SERMONS 


FOR 


THE  CHRISTIAN  YEAR 


WALLACE -C  AM  M 


':       ; 


SERMONS 
FOR  THE  CHRISTIAN  YEAR 


BY  THE  I,ATE 
DOM  WILFRID  WALLACE,  O.  S.  B. :  D.  D. :  M.  A. :  L.  L.  B., 

v  V 

SUBPRIOR  OF  ERDINGTON  ABBEY. 


WITH   A  PREFACE  BY 

DOM  BEDE  CAMM,  O.  S.  B., 

OF  THE  SAME  ABBEY. 


VOI,.  I. 
ADVENT  TO  QUINQUAGESIMA. 


ST.  LOUIS,  MO.,  and  FREIBURG  (BADEN). 

PUBUSHED  BY  B.  HERDER. 

1910. 


NIHII,  OBSTAT. 
St.  lyouis,  die  7,  Sept.  1909. 

Josephus  Wentker, 

Censor  dep. 


IMPRIMATUR. 
St.  Louis,  die  7,  Sept.  1909. 

t  Joannes  J.  Glennon, 
Archiepiscopus. 

Sti.  Ludovici. 


Copyright,  1910,  by  Joseph  Gummersbach. 


PREFACE 

The  author  of  these  Sermons  was  one  of  the  most 
pious  and  learned  of  the  many  eminent  men  who 
adorned  the  Order  of  St.  Benedict  in  the  nine- 
teenth century.  A  brief  sketch  of  his  life  may  be  of 
interest  to  the  readers  of  his  works. 

Dom  Wilfrid  Wallace  was  born  on  July  31st,  1838, 
in  South  London.  In  1855  he  sustained  a  serious 
accident,  being  kicked  by  a  horse,  which  brought  on 
concussion  of  the  brain.  However,  he  quite  re- 
covered from  this,  and  after  a  year  at  Sedgley  Park 
School,  in  Staffordshire,  in  September  1856,  he 
entered  the  College  of  St.  Edmund's,  Old  Hall,  the 
successor  of  Cardinal  Allen's  famous  foundation  at 
Douay.  Among  his  class  fellows  were  the  late 
Provost  Barry  of  St.  James',  Spanish  Place,  London, 
and  the  present  Bishop  of  Portsmouth,  Dr.  Cahill. 

In  1859  he  matriculated  at  London  University, 
was  placed  in  the  first  division,  and  obtained  the 
fourth  place  in  Classical  Honours.  In  1860  he  passed 
First  Class  in  the  first  B.  A.  examination,  and  also 
obtained  high  honors  in  Lathi  and  English.  In 
1861  he  took  his  B.  A.  degree,  and  obtained  the  third 
place  in  Classics.  He  also  entered  for  Logic  and 
Moral  Philosophy.  But  here  his  conscientious  scrup- 
les prevented  him  from  obtaining  the  high  place  that 
he  merited.  Having  to  write  a  paper  on  Free-will, 
he  wrote  as  a  Catholic,  and  combatted  the  views  of 
Bain,  the  famous  author  of  "Emotions  and  Will," 


ii  PREFACE 

though  Bain  was  the  Examiner  to  whom  his  work 
was  to  be  submitted.  Thus,  naturally,  he  gained 
no  place. 

In  1862  he  took  his  M.  A.  degree,  and  also  his 
L.  L.  B.  Bishop  Cahill  tells  us  that  "his  L.  If.  B.  was 
prepared  for  quite  surreptitiously.  I  found  him  out 
by  seeing  a  copy  of  Bentham  which  he  forgot  to  lock 
up.  He  implored  me  to  keep  his  secret,  for  he 
dreaded  failure,  as  he  was  preparing  at  the  same 
time  for  the  M.  A." 

The  Bishop  continues:  "He  was  the  hardest 
student  I  ever  knew.  He  arose  every  morning  at 
four,  dressed,  said  his  prayers,  and  began  study  at 
4:30.  He  came  with  us  all  to  Meditation  at  6:30. 
Immediately  after  Mass,  he  took  his  book,  read  all 
through  breakfast,  while  out  walking,  through 
dinner,  and,  after  about  half  an  hour's  recreation 
after  dinner,  was  again  at  his  book.  He  never 
missed  his  common  duties,  but,  except  in  Church,  he 
never  ceased  reading  till  11  p.  m.,  when  he  went  to 
bed.  This  he  kept  up  from  January,  1859,  till  mid- 
summer, 1862." 

Yet,  "he  had  in  those  days  an  immense  apprecia- 
tion of  fun,  and  his  acting  in  a  farce  at  Christmas 
time  took  us  all  by  storm." 

On  July  25th,  1862,  he  was  ordained  Sub-deacon 
by  the  saintly  Bishop  Grant  of  Southwark,  at  Dock- 
head  Church,  Bermondsey,  the  Church  in  which  he 
had  been  confirmed  hi  1847. 

He  now  took  a  well-earned  holiday,  and  made  a 
European  tour  on  foot.  He  walked  across  Sweden 


PREFACE  iii 

from  Gothenburg  to  Stockholm,  and  thence  made 
his  way  to  St.  Petersburg,  returning  by  Konigsburg, 
Berlin,  Cologne  and  Ostend. 

It  was  thought  well  to  give  so  brilliant  a  student 
the  benefit  of  a  course  at  Rome,  and  so  after  his  re- 
turn from  his  holiday,  he  was  sent  by  Bishop  Grant 
to  the  venerable  English  College  there  to  complete 
his  ecclesiastical  studies.  Here  he  gained  a  reputa- 
tion for  high  ability,  and  in  due  time  took  his  Doc- 
tor's degree.  He  was  ordained  deacon  by  Cardinal 
Patrizi,  at  St.  John  Lateran,  in  1863,  and  priest  on 
Holy  Saturday,  1864.  He  said  his  first  Mass  in  the 
Chapel  of  the  English  College  on  Easter  Sunday. 

In  September,  1863,  during  the  summer  vacation, 
he  had  made  another  long  walking  tour,  in  the  form 
of  a  pilgrimage  to  Loreto.  He  then  visited  Assisi, 
Perugia,  Bologna  and  even  Milan,  returning  by 
Florence  and  Orvieto.  On  this  occasion,  too,  he 
visited  famous  monastic  sanctuaries  of  Vallombrosa 
and  Camaldoli. 

In  1864  he  received  the  Doctor's  cap  and  ring  from 
Father  Perrone  S.  J.,  and  in  September  left  Rome 
for  England.  On  this  journey,  he  first  went  South, 
visiting  Naples  and  Benevento,  and  making  a  pil- 
grimage to  the  tomb  of  St.  Benedict  at  Monte 
Cassino.  He  retraced  his  steps  along  the  Adriatic 
Gulf  to  Ravenna,  and  thence  by  Ferrara,  Padua  and 
Venice,  through  the  Austrian  Tyrol  to  Munich,  and 
so  back  to  London. 

He  was  now  placed  on  the  Professorial  staff  of  St. 
Edmund's  College,  where  he  remained  four  years. 


iv  PREFACE 

His  devotion  to  St.  Edmund  of  Canterbury,  whose 
biographer  he  was  destined  to  be,  was  always  very 
great.  During  this  time  he  had  the  great  joy  of 
seeing  his  father  received  into  the  Church  by  Bishop 
Grant.  The  good  convert  only  survived  his  con- 
version a  year,  and  died  in  1867. 

In  the  same  year,  Dr.  Wallace  was  sent  to  Lyming- 
ton  hi  Hampshire  as  parish  priest.  Two  years  later 
he  was  transferred  to  the  Bermondsey  Mission. 

In  1870  he  visited  Rome,  during  the  session  of  the 
Vatican  Council.  Here  he  found  his  beloved  Bishop, 
Dr.  Grant,  who  though  dying  of  cancer,  had  with 
extraordinary  heroism  obeyed  the  Papal  summons 
to  the  Council,  though  he  well  knew  that  he  should 
never  return  alive. 

It  may  be  interesting  here  to  note  that  long  be- 
fore Dr.  Wallace  himself  suspected  his  true  vocation, 
it  had  been  discovered  by  the  fatherly  eye  of  this 
saintly  Bishop,  who  with  an  almost  supernatural 
insight  into  the  future,  made  all  preparations  to 
further  it  when  it  should  be  matured. 

We  have  heard  the  story  from  Dom  Wallace's 
own  lips,  how  before  the  Bishop  died  at  Rome  in 
1870,  he  obtained  a  dispensation  from  the  mission- 
oath  for  the  young  priest  whom  he  greatly  loved, 
and  over  whose  brilliant  career  he  had  watched  with 
paternal  interest.  And  in  the  last  interview  he  had 
with  him,  the  dying  Bishop  told  him  that  when  he 
wanted  to  enter  a  monastery  he  would  find  no  diffi- 
culty, for  the  dispensation  had  been  obtained,  and 


PREFACE  v 

would  be  found,  when  the  time  came,  among  his 
papers  at  the  Bishop's  house. 

And  so  it  proved  when  in  God's  good  time,  Dom 
Wallace  felt  that  he  was  called  to  the  monastic  life, 
and  that  the  call  could  not  be  disobeyed.  All  was 
in  order,  and  all  difficulties  had  been  removed  from 
his  path.  It  was  not  long  after  his  return  to  Eng- 
land that  he  had  to  proceed  to  Rome  again  on  a  very 
sad  errand.  This  was  to  bring  back  the  body  of  his 
beloved  Bishop,  who  had  at  last  succumbed  to  his 
cruel  disease  on  June  1st,  1870.  It  had  been  the 
Bishop's  earnest  wish  to  be  buried  among  his  be- 
loved orphans  at  Norwood,  where  his  grave  had  long 
been  prepared. 

Dom  Wallace,  hastily  summoned  to  Rome,  found 
the  sacred  remains  surrounded  by  every  mark  of 
veneration  and  homage.  The  Holy  Father  had  it 
escorted  by  his  own  guards,  an  honour  usually  re- 
served for  Cardinals.  At  the  solemn  Requiem, 
fifty  Archbishops  and  Bishops  were  present,  as  well 
as  a  great  concourse  of  clergy.  The  body  left 
Civita  Vecchia  on  the  16th  of  June,  and  arrived  at 
Southwark  on  the  23rd.  An  immense  multitude 
received  it,  and  escorted  it,  with  every  sign  of  grief 
to  Norwood,  where  it  was  laid  to  rest. 

Toward  the  end  of  1870,  Dom  Wallace  became 
Rector  of  the  Mission  of  East  Greenwich,  where  he 
spent  seven  years  of  fruitful  labor.  But  his  heart 
had  long  desired  a  life  of  greater  retirement,  where 
he  might  apply  himself  more  entirely  to  the  life  of 
perfection,  and  devote  his  time  to  prayer  and  study. 


VI 


PREFACE 


He  naturally  turned  to  the  Benedictine  Order,  with 
its  great  traditions.  He  longed  to  imitate  the  ex- 
ample of  a  Saint  like  the  Venerable  Bede,  that  glory 
of  English  Monasticism,  who  "was  ever  studying, 
ever  teaching,  ever  writing,  ever  praying."  And  so 
in  1877  he  applied  to  the  then  Bishop  of  Southwark 
Dr.  Danell,  for  permission  to  retire  to  a  Monastery, 
at  the  same  time  telling  him  of  the  dispensation  ob- 
tained by  Bishop  Grant.  This  was  sought  for  and 
found,  and  on  October  24th,  1877,  Dom  Wallace 
was  received  as  a  postulant  at  the  Abbey  of  Mared- 
sous  in  Belgium,  a  Monastery  belonging  to  the 
Beuron  Congregation  of  the  Benedictine  Order. 
He  chose  this  Congregation  hi  preference  to  the 
Anglo-Benedictine  branch  of  the  Order,  because  the 
latter  employs  its  Monks  on  the  Mission,  and  he 
wished  to  spend  the  rest  of  his  life  in  the  strictest 
Monastic  observance,  and  in  the  retirement  of  the 
Cloister. 

As  a  Benedictine,  Dom  Wilfrid  (as  he  was  now 
called)  had  ample  time  and  opportunity  to  build  up 
a  reputation  for  solidity  of  erudition.  For  (as  was 
observed  in  his  obituary  notice  in  the  Tablet  news- 
paper at  the  time  of  his  death)  "his  learning  was 
most  marvellous,  and  no  subject  seemed  alien  to 
him.  A  master  of  modern  and  of  classical  languages, 
as  well  as  of  some  of  the  Eastern  tongues,  he  was  also 
a  profound  scholar  in  biblical,  theological  and 
philosophical  lore;  and  most  deeply  versed  in  the 
writings  of  the  Fathers  of  the  Church,  and  the  entire 
field  of  sacred  and  profane  history. 


PREFACE  vii 

In  his  Life  of  St.  Edmund  of  Canterbury  (which 
appeared  in  1893)  Dr.  Wallace's  learning  is  written 
on  every  page.  In  this  work — the  toil  of  years — 
the  buried  treasures  of  antiquity  are  unearthed, 
the  records  of  long  forgotten  historians  brought  to 
light,  and  their  huge  tomes  thoroughly  overhauled. 
The  accuracy  of  the  work  has  not  been  impeached, 
and  has  wrung  many  a  tribute  from  an  anti-Catholic 
press." 

Dom  Wilfrid  Wallace  made  his  monastic  profes- 
sion on  August  15th  (the  Feast  of  the  Assumption), 
1879,  in  the  hands  of  Dom  Placid  Wolter,  then  Ab- 
bot of  Maredsous,  and  afterwards  second  Archabbot 
of  Beuron,  whose  death  in  1908  is  a  sorrow  still  fresh 
in  the  hearts  of  his  sons.  Next  year,  on  October 
5th,  he  left  Maredsous  for  this  Monastery  of  St. 
Thomas  the  Martyr,  at  Erdington  in  his  native 
country.  It  was  then  but  a  small  house,  just  strug- 
gling into  life,  and  he  was  the  first  English  subject 
to  join  it,  for  Erdington  had  been  founded  during 
the  Kulturkampf  to  give  a  place  of  refuge  to  the 
exiled  monks  from  Beuron.  Here  Dom  Wilfrid 
settled  down  to  some  years  of  strenuous  labor.  He 
became  Headmaster  of  the  Grammar  School  and 
multiplied  his  activities  on  every  side. 

For  some  time  he  was  again  at  Rome  as  Professor 
of  Holy  Scripture  at  the  international  Benedictine 
College  of  Saint  Anselm.  But  he  returned  to 
Erdington  in  1890,  though  with  shattered  health, 
which  gradually  grew  worse,  until  his  life  became  a 
long  martyrdom  of  pain.  The  mysterious  disease 


viii  PREFACE 

(at  first  erroneously  thought  to  be  rheumatism) 
which  sapped  his  strength  and  vigor,  baffled  all  the 
doctors.  The  agony  it  caused  was  indescribable. 
"Lightning  pains"  shot  through  every  nerve,  and 
racked  the  poor  suffering  body  day  and  night.  This 
fire  of  corporal  suffer  ings  lasted  for  many  long  years, 
and  formed,  no  doubt,  Dom  Wilfrid's  purgatory  on 
earth.  In  the  midst  of  them  he  ever  bore  himself 
with  a  gentle  and  cheerful  patience  and  a  really  heroic 
resignation,  which  struck  not  only  his  brethren  and 
his  friends,  but  also  his  medical  advisers  with  respect 
and  admiration. 

In  1894  his  mother,  who  had  settled  in  Erdington 
in  order  to  be  near  him,  died,  in  her  81st  year.  He 
followed  her  two  years  later. 

Shortly  before  his  death  he  was  sent  to  St.  Wini- 
fred's Well,  in  the  hope  that  the  Virgin  Martyr  "in 
our  unbelieving  age  still  miraculous"  would  afford 
him  some  relief  in  his  terrible  pains.  But  it  was  an 
even  greater  grace  that  she  granted  him,  even  the 
final  release  from  all  the  pains  and  sorrows  of  earth. 

While  he  was  still  there  the  news  came  to  Erding- 
ton that  the  Sovereign  Pontiff  had  canonically 
erected  the  Monastery  as  an  Abbey.  In  his  last 
letter  home,  dated  Sunday,  August  30th,  1896,  Dom 
Wilfrid  rejoiced  over  this  news  as  the  crowning  of 
a  work  he  had  so  long  had  at  heart. 

He  goes  on  to  speak  of  himself — "I  am  sorry  to 
say  that  instead  of  getting  better,  I  am  very  much 
worse.  I  have  been  three  times  in  the  Holy  Well, 
on  Sunday,  Tuesday  and  Thursday,  and  each  bath, 


PREFACE  ix 

especially  the  last,  caused  me  terrible  suffering.  I 
am  now  undergoing  dreadful  agony  both  day  and 
night  without  intermission.  Yesterday  I  was  oblig- 
ed to  get  the  doctor  to  administer  a  morphine  in- 
jection in  order  to  get  a  little  sleep.  In  consequence 
of  this  injection,  I  was  able  to  hear  Mass  in  the 
Church  this  morning.  This  is  the  first  time  I  have 
entered  it,  although  it  is  only  next  door.  I  would 
gladly  return  home  if  I  could,  but  the  journey  is 
quite  impossible  under  present  conditions.  The 
Sisters  continue  to  show  me  the  greatest  kindness, 
and  do  all  they  can  to  lighten  my  sufferings.  But 
it  seems  that  the  disease  is  beyond  all  remedies, 
whether  natural  or  supernatural.  The  torture  is  so 
great  that  I  cannot  pray,  nor  read,  nor  write,  nor 
think,  nor  eat,  nor  sleep.  I  hope  you  will  pray  that 
this  chalice  may,  if  possible,  pass  from  me."  Not 
many  hours  later  God  heard  the  prayer. 

He  fell  asleep  peacefully  on  Tuesday,  September 
1st.  The  good  Nun  who  nursed  him  wrote  as  fol- 
lows: "For  several  days  his  sufferings  were  most 
acute.  He  seemed  to  have  no  rest,  and  a  new  feature 
appeared  which  intensified  them — he  began  to  suffer 
from  vomiting.  On  Sunday  last  he  did  not  get  up 
till  half  past  eight,  and  then  walked  down  to  the 
Church  to  Mass  by  himself,  to  our  great  amazement. 
During  the  day,  though  suffering  much,  there  was  a 
very  marked  change  in  his  countenance.  JHe  looked 
very  placid,  and  a  calm  sweetness  spread  over  his 
face.  We  asked  him  if  he  felt  better,  for  we  felt  he 
must,  as  the  face  looked  so  different.  He  replied, 


x  PREFACE 

"No,  I  feel  very  bad."  He  played  at  a  little  game 
with  one  of  the  Sisters  and  a  child,  saying  he  did  so 
to  distract  himself.  Speaking  of  St.  Winifred,  he 
said,  "I  should  be  glad  if  she  took  me."  On  Mon- 
day morning  he  seemed  very  sleepy,  and  continued 
sleeping  all  the  morning.  When  it  came  near  12 
o'clock  we  thought  it  better  to  send  for  the  Doctor 
who  pronounced  him  in  danger.  We  sent  for  the 
priest,  who  heard  his  confession,  and  then  went  for 
the  Holy  Eucharist  and  the  Holy  Oils. 

"Father  Wilfrid  was  quite  conscious,  very  calm  and 
sweet,  and  said  that  all  pain  and  irritation  had  left 
him.  He  looked  so  sweet  and  gentle,  and  promised 
to  pray  for  us.  He  thanked  me  for  wiring  to  Erding- 
ton.  He  repeated  all  the  prayers  for  the  dying  with 
us.  One  hour  after  the  anointing,  he  became  un- 
conscious and  never  rallied.  He  had  frequent  visits 
and  absolutions  from  the  Fathers,  and  the  Sisters 
never  ceased  praying  for  him  nor  left  his  bedside 
until  he  expired  at  ten  minutes  past  midnight,  so 
that  he  died  on  Tuesday — the  day  consecrated  to 
St.  Benedict. 

"His  face  seemed  lighted  up,  just  before  he  ex- 
pired, though  he  was  unconscious.  He  had  a  happy 
and  most  peaceful  death." 

His  body  was  brought  back  to  Erdington  just  as 
he  had  himself  brought  back  to  England  the  body 
of  his  beloved  Bishop,  and  he  was  laid  to  rest  in  the 
Monks'  Cemetery  within  the  Abbey  enclosure,  on 
Thursday,  September  3rd — Requiescat  in  pace. 


PREFACE  xi 

It  was  during  the  last  years  that  he  found  some 
solace  for  his  pains  in  arranging  these  sermons  and 
preparing  them  for  publication.  He  had  two  for 
every  Sunday  in  the  year,  and  a  series  on  the  Saints 
and  Festivals.  Owing  to  various  circumstances 
their  publication  has  been  long  delayed,  but  at  last 
they  are  to  see  the  light.  The  present  writer  thinks 
and  believes  that  they  will  be  found  useful,  devout 
and  practical.  They  are  full  of  Holy  Scripture,  and 
abound  in  suggestive  thought. 

Unfortunately  a  few  are  missing,  including  the 
first  two  for  Advent  Sunday.  These  gaps  have  been 
filled  by  the  present  writer,  in  order  to  make  the 
series  complete,  though  he  is  fully  aware  of  the  poor 
figure  his  own  compositions  make  when  placed  beside 
those  of  Dom  Wilfrid.  But  as  he  has  acted  in  this 
matter  under  obedience  to  his  Superiors,  he  hopes 
that  the  reader  will  pardon  his  presumption. 

If  these  three  volumes  of  Sermons  for  the  Sundays 
find  favor  with  the  public,  it  is  hoped  to  complete 
the  series  by  publishing  those  for  the  Saints'  days 
and  festivals. 

In  conclusion  we  would  beg  the  prayers  of  those 
who  read  these  Sermons  for  the  repose  of  the  Soul 
of  the  good  Monk  who  wrote  them,  and  for  the  bless- 
ing of  God  upon  the  Community  which  still  mourns 
his  loss. 

DOM  BEDE  CAMM, 

O.  S.  B. 
Erdington  Abbey, 

Birmingham,  England. 


INDEX  OF  SERMONS. 

PAGE 

1  First  Sunday  of  Advent.    From  the  Gospel 1 

2  First  Sunday  of  Advent.    From  the  Lesson 7 

3  Second  Sunday  of  Advent.     From  the  Gospel 13 

4  Second  Sunday  of  Advent.    From  the  Lesson 20 

5  Third  Sunday  of  Advent.     From  the  Gospel 26 

6  Third  Sunday  of  Advent.    From  the  Lesson 32 

7  Ember- Wednesday  Advent.     From  the  Gospel 39 

8  Ember-Friday  Advent.    From  the  Gospel 45 

9  Fourth  Sunday  of  Advent.    From  the  Gospel 51 

10  Fourth  Sunday  of  Advent.   (Another  Sermon) 58 

11  Fourth  Sunday  of  Advent.    From  the  Lesson 65 

12  Fourth  Sunday  of  Advent.    (Another  Sermon.)     From 

the  Lesson 71 

13  Christmas  Eve.   From  the  Gospel 76 

14  Christmas  Eve.    From  the  Lesson 81 

15  Christmas  Day,  Midnight.    From  the  Gospel 88 

16  Christmas  Day,  Midnight.    From  the  Lesson 93 

17  Christmas  Day,  Aurora.     From  the  Gospel 99 

18  Christmas  Day,  Aurora.    From  the  Lesson 106 

19  Christmas  Day,  Midday.     From  the  Gospel 112 

20  Christmas  Day,  Midday.     From  the  Lesson 119 

21  St.  Stephen,  Protomartyr,  From  the  Gospel 126 

22  St.  Stephen,  Protomartyr,  From  the  Lesson 133 

23  St.  Stephen  (Another  Sermon) 139 

24  St.  John  Evangelist.     From  the  Gospel 146 

25  Holy  Innocents.    From  the  Gospel 153 

26  St.  Thomas  of  Canterbury.    From  the  Gospel 159 

27  Sunday  within  Oct.  of  Christmas.    From  the  Gospel 166 

28  Sunday  within  Oct.  of  Christmas.     From  the  Lesson 172 

29  Circumcision.    From  the  Gospel 179 

30  Circumcision.    From  the  Lesson 185 

31  Epiphany  Eve.     From  the  Gospel 191 

32  Epiphany.     From  the  Gospel 198 

33  Epiphany.     From  the  Lesson 204 

34  First  Sunday  after  Epiphany.    From  the  Gospel 210 

35  First  Sunday  after  Epiphany.     From  the  Lesson 217 

36  First  Sunday  after  Epiphany.     (Another  Sermon) 

From  the  Gospel 223 

37  First  Sunday  after  Epiphany.     (Another  Sermon) 

From  the  Lesson 230 


PAQ« 

38  Octave  of  Epiphany.    From  the  Gospel 237 

39  Second  Sunday  after  Epiphany.     From  the  Gospel 243 

40  Second  Sunday  after  Epiphany.     From  the  Lesson 249 

41  Second  Sunday  after  Epiphany.   (Sermon  II)   From  the 

Gospel 255 

42  Second  Sunday  after  Epiphany.    (Sermon  II)  From  the 

Lesson 262 

43  Third  Sunday  after  Epiphany.    From  the  Gospel 269 

44  Third  Sunday  after  Epiphany.    From  the  Lesson 275 

45  Fourth  Sunday  after  Epiphany.    From  the  Gospel 281 

46  Fourth  Sunday  after  Epiphany.    From  the  Lesson 288 

47  Fourth  Sunday  (Another  Sermon)    From  the  Gospel..  294 

48  Fifth  Sunday.    From  the  Gospel 301 

49  Fifth  Sunday.    From  the  Lesson 308 

50  Fifth  Sunday.  (Another  Sermon)   From  the  Gospel 314 

51  Sixth  Sunday.    From  the  Gospel 320 

52  Sixth  Sunday  after  Epiphany.    From  the  Lesson 326 

53  Septuagesima.    From  the  Gospel 332 

54  Septuagesima.    From  the  Lesson 339 

55  Sexagesima.    From  the  Gospel 344 

56  Sexagesima.    From  the  Lesson 352 

57  Sexagesima.   (Another  Sermon)  From  the  Gospel 358 

58  Sexagesima.  (Another  Sermon)  From  the  Lesson 365 

59  Quinquagesima.    From  the  Gospel 372 

60  Quinquagesima.     From  the  Lesson. 378 

61  Quinquagesima.  (Another  Sermon)  From  the  Lesson..  385 


FIRST  SUNDAY  OF  ADVENT. 

(From  the  Gospel.) 

"Look  up  and  lift  up  your  heads  because  your  re- 
demption is  at  hand."  (Luke  21;  28.) 

Once  more,  dear  brethren,  we  begin  the  Church's 
new  year;  once  more  our  thoughts  are  turned  to- 
wards the  end  of  time  and  to  that  great  and  terrible 
Advent  which  we  are  bidden  to  expect  and  to  pre- 
pare for. 

It  seems  at  first  a  strange  conjunction  of  the  Two 
Advents  of  our  divine  Lord,  which  bids  us  while  we 
prepare  to  keep  the  sweet  and  gracious  feast  of 
Christmas,  yet  at  the  same  time  look  on  to  the  com- 
ing of  the  Judge.  Christmas  makes  our  hearts  beat 
with  tender  emotions.  There  is  something  so  joy- 
ous and  yet  so  pathetic  about  the  picture  of  the  Crib 
and  the  Babe  holding  His  court  there,  something  so 
winning  in  the  littleness,  the  poverty,  the  pastoral 
charm  of  it  all,  that  it  softens  our  hard  hearts  and 
touches  us  as  nothing  else  can  do.  Nothing  brings 
us  to  our  knees  so  quickly  as  the  sight  of  the  helpless 
Little  One,  lying  on  the  straw  in  the  ox's  crib,  it 
forces  the  tears  unbidden  to  our  eyes,  and  we  feel 
that  it  is  good  to  be  there,  with  Mary  and  Joseph, 
kneeling  by  the  Manger.  And  this  joy  we  shall 
have  again  so  soon;  for  Christmas  is  near,  and  our 
hearts  are  glad. 

And  then  the  Church  pulls  us  up,  as  it  were,  with 
a  jerk,  and  puts  before  our  eyes  the  picture  of  the 


2  SERMONS  FOR  THE  YEAR 

Last  Assize,  and  the  coining  of  the  Judge,  the 
Avenger.  It  is  a  shock  at  first,  and  it  seems  so 
strange  to  us. 

What  has  Christmas  to  do  with  the  Last  Judg- 
ment? Why  should  I  have  to  think  of  two  facts  so 
strangely  diverse,  so  seemingly  incompatible,  at 
Advent? 

Why,  when  my  heart  is  full  at  the  prospect  of  the 
Christmas  joy,  must  it  be  chilled  with  fear  at  the 
prospect  of  the  terrors  of  the  Last  Day?  When  I 
want  to  think  of  the  Angels'  Song,  "Glory  to  God  and 
peace  to  men  of  good- will,"  why  must  I  be  called  on 
to  shudder  at  the  trump  of  judgment?  When  my 
mind  is  full  of  the  sweet  picture  of  the  new-born 
Babe  smiling  His  welcome  to  His  shepherd-worship- 
pers; why  must  it  be  terrified  by  the  apparition  of 
the  implacable  Judge,  shocked  by  the  thunders  of 
the  dreadful  sentence — "Depart  from  me,  ye  cursed 
into  everlasting  fire?" 

Why  is  Advent  full  of  these  paradoxes,  we  wonder, 
as  the  thrilling  appeals  of  the  Liturgy  grow  ever 
more  intense  in  their  pleading :  "Come,  Oh  Lord, 
Come  and  tarry  not!    Drop  down,  ye  heavens,  dew 
from  on  high!    Let  the  earth  open  and  bud  forth 
the  Saviour!  Come  Emmanuel,  for  whom  the  Gen- 
tiles wait,  come  and  save  us   O   Lord  our  God!" 
How  can  all  this  passionate  desire  to  see  His  Face  be 
reconciled  with  the  terrors  of  the  Dies  Irae,  when  the 
Judge  shall  come  and  all  the  earth  shall  tremble,  and 
"What  shall  I,  frail  man,  be  pleading, 
What  kind  Saint  be  interceding, 
When  the  just  are  mercy  needing?" 


FIRST  SUNDAY  OF  ADVENT  3 

My  brethren,  the  answer  to  this  question  is  found 
in  the  words  of  my  text,  which  are  the  words  of  Him 
who  is  at  once  the  Babe  of  Bethlehem  and  the  Judge 
of  quick  and  dead.  "Look  up,  and  lift  up  your 
heads,  because  your  redemption  is  at  hand." 

For  His  servants,  for  His  worshippers,  for  His 
friends,  His  Second  Advent  is  not  to  bring  sorrow, 
confusion,  but  joy  and  redemption.  It  is  the  same 
Jesus,  "the  same  yesterday,  to-day  and  for  ever," 
who  came  to  save  us  then  and  who  comes  to  save  us 
now.  The  redemption  begun  at  Bethlehem,  is 
finally  completed  at  the  last  Assize. 

If  we  have  really  learned  to  love  Him  in  His 
littleness  and  His  humiliation  in  the  Cave  of  Bethle- 
hem, will  it  not  be  joy  to  us  to  welcome  Him,  when 
we  see  Him  "sitting  on  the  right  hand  of  the  power 
of  God,  and  coming  in  the  clouds  of  heaven?" 
(Matt.  XXVI;  64.)  Will  it  not  thrill  our  hearts 
with  gladness,  to  know  that  He  has  come  again, 
come  in  triumph  and  majesty,  to  reward  His  faithful 
servants  and  assign  to  them  their  thrones  of  glory. 
His  Kingdom  will  then  finally  be  established,  and 
all  things  will  be  submitted  to  him,  all  things  own 
His  Sovereignty.  Surely  that  will  be  joy  to  every 
faithful  heart;  the  joy  of  joys,  indeed!  We  weep 
over  His  sufferings,  shall  we  not  rejoice  in  His 
triumph  ? 

Our  Lord  evidently  expects  it.  For  he  says 
"Look  up,  for  your  Redemption  is  at  hand!"  That 
is  to  say,  when  you  see  the  signs  of  My  second 
coming  begin  to  manifest  themselves,  then  be  of 


4  SERMONS  FOR  THE  YEAR 

good  cheer,  raise  your  heads  and  your  hearts,  for  I 
am  coming  to  redeem  you;  I  am  coming  to  reward. 
I  whom  you  have  loved,  and  known,  and  served,  I 
who  once  lay  in  Mary's  arms  in  the  stable,  I  who 
once  hung  for  you  upon  the  tree  of  shame,  I  am 
coming  hi  My  glory  to  put  all  things  right,  to  over- 
throw my  enemies  and  give  my  servants  their  wages. 
It  is  not  usual  for  labourers  or  servants  to  look  for- 
ward with  dread  and  aversion  to  pay-day,  it  is  not 
natural  for  sons  to  shrink  with  horror  from  the  re- 
turn of  a  beloved  father,  it  is  not  common  for  friends, 
to  desire  never  again  to  see  each  others'  faces.  It 
seems  a  strange  love  for  our  I/ord  which  would  make 
Christians  shrink  from  the  thought  of  His  Advent, 
and  tremble  at  the  prospect  of  seeing  His  adorable 
face. 

The  fact  is,  of  course,  that  we  fear  because  we 
know  our  sins  and  our  infidelities,  because  we  some- 
times wonder  whether  in  His  eyes  we  are  really  de- 
serving of  love  or  of  hatred,  whether  we  truly  are 
among  His  friends  or  among  His  enemeis.  And  it  is 
right  that  we  should  fear  Him,  for  "the  fear  of  the 
Lord  is  the  beginning  of  wisdom,"  but  surely  not 
right  if  that  fear  is  divorced  from  love. 

We  fear  Him,  just  because  we  love  Him  so  much, 
if  we  are  truly  His.  We  fear  to  grieve  Him,  because 
He  is  so  good,  we  fear  above  all  to  Igye  Him,  because ' 
He  is  our  only  treasure.  But  that  is  a  very  different 
fear  from  the  terrible  fear  which  trembles  before  the 
Judge,  which  regards  the  thought  of  His  Advent 
with  horror  and  dismay. 


FIRST  SUNDAY  OF  ADVENT  5 

No,  our  thoughts  are  to  be  very  different  from 
that.  We  are  to  look  forward  to  His  Advent,  to 
long  for  His  coming,  to  desire  it,  to  pray  for  it,  to 
implore  Him  to  hasten  it;  to  unite  our  prayers,  in 
short,  with  those  of  the  Holy  Martyrs  beneath  the 
Altar  of  Heaven,  who  cry  out  unceasingly,  "How 
long,  O  Lord,  How  long?" 

If  we  are  not  fit  to  stand  before  the  Judgment 
Seat,  neither  are  we  fit  to  kneel  in  the  Cave  of  Beth- 
lehem. It  is  the  same  Jesus.  As  He  lay  in  the  Man- 
ger, countless  souls  were  passing  out  of  this  world, 
were  being  hurried  into  His  presence,  and  were  re- 
ceiving from  His  baby  lips  their  final  and  irrevocable 
sentence.  The  Crib  was  the  seat  of  Judgment,  and 
the  Cave  was  filled  with  the  spirits  of  the  departed. 

"It  is  the  same  Jesus,"  you  say,  "but  then  He 
came  as  Saviour,  now  He  will  come  as  Judge."  I 
reply,  Just  as  then  He  was  both  Judge  and  Saviour, 
so  will  He  be  at  His  Second  Coming." 

To  those  who  are  His  friends  now,  that  coming 
will  mean  Redemption,  to  those  who  reject  Him 
now,  His  Advent  will  be  condemnation.  But  He 
will  reject  then  only  those  who  now  reject  Him. 
He  will  condemn  then  only  those  who  now  condemn 
themselves. 

And,  therefore,  there  is  no  reason  why  I  should 
fear  the  coming  of  the  Last  Day  more  than  the  com- 
ing of  Christmas.  For  both  mean  the  Advent  of 
the  same  Jesus,  Jesus  my  Saviour  and  my  Judge. 
And  so  let  us  fear  Him  now,  that  we  may  not  fear 
Him  then.  Let  us  prepare  for  Christmas  now, 


6  SERMONS  FOR  THE  YEAR 

that  the  Second  Advent  may  not  take  us  unpre- 
pared. Let  us  trust  in  Him,  hope  in  Him,  with  all 
our  hearts,  for  He  loves  us,  as  none  else  has  ever 
loved,  can  ever  love  us;  He  loves  us  so  much  that 
he  died  to  ensure  our  eternal  happiness.  "Ye  that 
fear  the  Lord,  hope  in  Him,  and  mercy  shall  come 
to  you  for  your  delight."  "Ye  that  fear  the  Lord, 
love  Him,  and  your  hearts  shall  be  enlightened." 
(Eccles.  II— 9,  10.) 

That  then,  is  the  message  of  Advent.  Learn  to 
fear  our  Lord,  with  that  sweet,  filial  fear,  that  far 
from  driving  away  hope  and  love,  is  nurtured  by 
them,  and  cannot  exist  without  them. 

And  then  at  the  Judgment  you  will  not  fear,  but 
"mercy  shall  come  to  you  for  your  delight." 

What  sweet  words  of  comfort  are  these,  and 
sweeter  yet  are  those  that  follow  in  the  inspired 
pages  of  the  Son  of  Sirach.  "My  children  behold  the 
generations  of  men,  and  know  ye  that  none  hath 
hoped  in  the  Lord  and  hath  been  confounded. 
*  *  *  *  For  God  is  compassionate  and  merci- 
ful, and  will  forgive  sins  in  the  day  of  tribulation, 
and  He  is  a  protector  to  all  that  seek  Him  in  truth." 

If,  then,  we  are  not  wilfully  rejecting  the  light, 
knowingly  and  deliberately  living  in  grievous  sin, 
we  may  have  hope  and  confidence,  and  look  forward 
with  humble  joy  to  the  coming  of  our  King.  Let  us 
this  Advent  join  in  the  cry  which  His  holy  spouse 
the  Church,  raised  unceasingly  during  this  Advent 
Season,  Veni  Domnie,  noli  iardare,  "Come,  O  Lord, 
and  tarry  not,  Come  and  redeem  us!" 


FIRST  SUNDAY  OF  ADVENT  7 

"And  they  that  are  redeemed  by  the  Lord  shall 
return,  and  shall  come  into  Sion  singing  praises,  and 
joy  everlasting  shall  be  upon  their  heads ;  they  shall 
obtain  joy  and  gladness,  sorrow  and  mourning  shall 
flee  away."  (Isaias  LI,  11.) 

FIRST  SUNDAY  OF  ADVENT 

(From  the  Lesson.) 

"It  is  now  the  hour  for  us  to  arise  from  sleep.  The 
night  is  passed  and  the  day  is  at  hand.  Let  us,  there- 
fore cast  off  the  works  of  darkness  and  put  on  the 
armour  of  light."  (Roman  XIII;  11,  12.) 

Advent  comes  to  us  once  more,  dear  brethren,  in 
Christ,  comes  with  its  trumpet-call,  stirring  us  to 
action,  rousing  us  from  our  lethargy.  Year  after 
year  has  passed  over  our  heads,  Advent  after  Ad- 
vent has  come  and  gone,  and  each  time  we  have 
heard  the  call,  thrilling  through  the  night.  But 
perchance,  we  have  heeded  it  but  little.  It  has 
roused  us  for  a  moment,  and  then  we  have  turned 
round  on  our  couch  and  gone  to  sleep  again;  many  of 
us  there  are,  who  ask  but  to  be  left  in  peace,  and  who 
find  the  night  with  its  ease  and  its  convenient  dark- 
ness more  to  our  mind  than  the  glaring,  strenuous 
day. 

But  to-day  the  call  shrills  out  once  more,  and  the 
notes  of  the  heavenly  trumpeter  seem  ever  more 
insistent — Arise!  for  it  is  time!  Arise,  for  the  night 
is  passed,  and  it  is  the  hour  for  action.  Arise!  for 
the  day  is  at  hand.  Arise!  for  there  is  work  to  do, 


8  SERMONS  FOR  THE  YEAR 

and  there  are  foes  to  fight.  Arise!  for  your  enemy 
is  at  hand.  Arise!  or  sleep,  perhaps  henceforth,  that 
deadly  sleep  from  which  there  is  no  more  awakening. 

This  is  the  call  of  Advent.  What  does  it  mean  to 
you  and  me? 

Arise!  Is  it  true  that  we  are  asleep,  or,  at  least, 
lying  like  sluggards  on  the  bed  of  sloth?  Am  I 
perhaps  bound  down  with  chains  upon  that  bed, 
chains  of  my  own  forging,  but  very  hard  to  break? 
Have  I  allowed  myself  to  fall  asleep,  like  Samson  of 
old  in  the  harlot's  lap,  asleep  in  sinful  pleasure, 
asleep  in  careless  indifference,  while  my  sleepless 
foes  have  woven  their  bands  about  my  limbs,  and 
now  mock  at  my  helplessness?  Am  I  chained  down 
by  the  bonds  of  evil  habit,  weighted  with  countless 
acts  of  grievous  sin,  sins  of  thought,  and  word  and 
deed,  so  that  I  have  almost  lost  even  the  will  to  rouse 
myself,  and  shrink  from  the  very  idea  of  making  the 
effort  to  arise?  Perhaps  I  do  not  realize  the  weight 
and  strength  of  the  chains  that  bind  me.  I  am  but 
conscious  of  the  pleasant  drowsiness  that  holds  me 
in  the  soft,  warm,  cosy  recesses  of  my  bed  of  down. 
I  ask  but  to  doze  on  and  to  be  left  in  peace.  There 
are  those  about  my  bed  whose  object  it  is  to  keep  me 
in  this  state.  They  soothe  me  when  the  trumpet 
call  breaks  on  my  startled  ears  and  shuddering 
senses.  They  tell  me  it  is  nothing,  that  I  must  not 
be  frightened  or  disturbed,  it  is  an  old  nuisance,  and 
it  will  soon  pass,  and  no  sensible  person  troubles 
about  it.  They  tell  me  that  it  is  a  false  alarm,  that 
the  dawn  is  still  far  off,  that  it  would  be  folly  to  rise 


FIRST  SUNDAY  OF  ADVENT  9 

while  it  is  dark  and  cold;  and  to  the  sluggard  such 
excuses  are  good  hearing.  It  is  an  effort  to  rise, 
there  is  the  plunge  into  the  cold,  there  is  the  strip- 
ping, the  washing  in  chill  waters,  the  dressing  to  be 
faced,  why  not  sleep  yet  another  hour — another 
year? 

Or  if  I  try  to  rise.  I  raise  my  sleepy  head,  as  yet 
half  awake,  and  confused  by  the  notes  of  that  trum- 
pet ringing  in  my  ears,  and  then  there  comes  a  shock; 
I  feel  for  the  first  time  the  presence  of  the  bonds  that 
hold  me  down,  I  sink  back  again  on  the  pillow  half 
frightened,  half  relieved.  How  can  I  rise?  I  am 
held  fast  by  bonds  too  strong  for  me  to  break.  And 
so  sleep  comes  again,  as  the  lulling  voices  drone  out 
their  old  lying  refrain — "Sleep  on,  for  it  is  not  yet 
the  hour  to  rise,  sleep  on!"  Such,  dear  brethren,  is 
the  experience  of  the  sinner  who  hears  the  Advent 
call  to-day,  as  he  has  heard  it  often  before.  Will  he 
even  yet  have  grace  to  listen,  strength  to  rise  and 
break  his  bonds?  Oh,  let  us  pray  that  so  it  may  be, 
ere  it  is  too  late.  For  indeed,  this  is  the  day  of 
grace,  and  a  day  that  passeth  swiftly,  and  can  never 
return  again.  Let  us  seize  the  opportunity  while  we 
may. 

However  strong  those  bonds  and  chains  may  be, 
there  is  one  stronger  yet,  who  is  ever  at  our  beck  and 
call,  One  who  will  come  to  help  us,  come  "with  a 
mighty  hand  and  stretched  out  arm,"  come  with  the 
swiftness  of  the  lightning  flash,  come  with  the 
strength  of  the  lion,  come  with  the  tenderness  of  a 
little  child,  He,  the  deliverer,  the  Hope  of  the  nations, 


10  SERMONS  FOR  THE  YEAR 

Adonai,  Emmanuel,  the  Babe  of  Bethlehem — He 
will  come  and  save  us,  He  will  break  our  bonds.  He 
is  coming  even  now,  He  is  close  at  hand,  even  at  the 
door,  He  will  save  and  deliver  if  we  will  only  let  Him. 
Advent  is  the  harbinger  of  His  spring-tide,  the 
herald  of  His  dawning.  Arise,  then,  and  shake  off 
these  miserable  bonds,  strip  yourselves  of  these 
works  of  darkness  that  cling  to  you  around  your 
limbs  and  hold  you  down  in  dishonourable  sloth,  rise 
and  play  the  man,  and  a  Little  Child  will  bless  you 
and  will  arm  you  for  the  fray  with  His  own  tiny 
hands.  For  if  by  God's  grace  a  man  hear  this  call 
to-day,  and  with  a  mighty  effort  cry  out  to  His  God, 
and  rising  up,  like  Samson,  burst  asunder  the  ropes 
that  bind  him,  "as  a  man  would  break  a  thread  of 
tow"  (not  indeed  in  his  own  strength,  but  in  the  power 
of  Him  whose  voice  he  thus  obeys) ;  (Judges  XVI ;  9) 
then  he  does  not  stand  shivering,  naked,  in  the  cold. 
He  tramples  under  foot  the  soft  garments  of  the 
night,  and  stretches  out  his  hands  towards  the  shin- 
ing armour  that  befits  the  soldiers  of  the  day.  But 
first  he  must  bathe  himself  in  the  pure,  cold  waters 
of  penance.  They  seem  to  chill  him  to  the  bone, 
and  yet  after  that  salutary  bath,  there  comes  a  glow 
and  a  warmth  very  different  from  the  enervating 
heat  of  the  bed  of  sin.  That  was  death,  but  this  is 
life  and  health  and  strength.  And  thus  purified  by 
the  Sacrament  of  Penance,  plunged  in  the  waters  of 
life  that  flow  from  the  wounded  Heart  of  the  Re- 
deemer, this  happy  soul  is  ready  to  "put  on  the  ar- 
mour of  light." 


FIRST  SUNDAY  OF  ADVENT  H 

The  "armour  of  light,"  what  is  it?  Of  what  is  it 
composed.  The  same  inspired  voice,  whose  call  to 
rise  at  Advent  is  ringing  in  our  ears,  has  told  us  this 
also. 

He  would  not  have  his  converts,  as  they  emerge 
from  the  baptismal  post,  remain  naked  and  un- 
armed for  the  fierce  struggle  that  most  surely  lies 
before  them.  They  are  soldiers  whom  he  has  roused 
from  their  slumbers  and  enlisted  in  the  army  of  his 
King.  They  must  be  armed  then.  "Put  you  on  the 
armour  of  God,"  he  says,  "that  you  may  be  able  to 
resist  in  the  evil  day,  and  to  stand  in  all  things  per- 
fect." (Eph.  VI;  13.) 

"Stand,  therefore,  having  your  loins  girt  about 
with  truth,  and  having  on  the  breastplate  of  justice." 
Our  enemy  is  the  father  of  lies,  and  those  who  fight 
him  need  the  sword  belt  of  truth.  Let  the  divine 
truth  revealed  to  you  by  God  through  His  Church, 
let  that  divine  truth  clasp  you  as  a  girdle.  Never 
loosen  it  or  you  will  be  in  deadly  peril,  throw  it  off 
and  you  are  no  more  the  soldier  of  Christ.  In  the 
Roman  legions  the  soldier  who  left  the  army,  threw 
off  his  belt  as  a  sign  that  he  was  no  longer  bound  by 
his  military  oath.  You  are  bound  by  yours  till 
death;  therefore,  loosen  not  that  girdle  of  truth,  as 
you  value  your  safety.  Nowadays  there  are  many 
who  would  bid  you  let  it  out  a  little,  that  it  press 
not  so  tightly  round  your  frame.  There  are  many 
who  would  tell  you  that  it  is  an  encumbrance,  a 
burden  not  to  be  borne.  Heed  them  not,  it  is  your 
safety;  they  are  your  worst  foes  who  reason  thus. 


12  SERMONS  FOR  THE  YEAR 

And  let  the  breastplate  of  justice  shine  on  your 
breast.  Justice  means  giving  to  all  their  due,  and 
justice  then  gives  to  God  supreme  adoration,  love 
and  obedience,  to  our  fellow-men  fraternal  charity, 
to  ourselves  patience  and  penance  to  our  deadly  foes 
no  quarter.  Let  justice  then  shield  your  breast. 
Your  feet  are  to  be  shod  "with  the  preparation  of  the 
gospel  of  peace;"  for  you  are  to  be  the  messenger, 
the  apostle,  as  well  as  the  soldier  of  Christ.  You  are 
to  walk  in  the  way  of  God's  commandments,  but  also 
to  go  after  those  who  err,  to  try  to  give  to  others  that 
supreme  blessing  which  has  been  vouchsafed  to  you, 
to  teach  them  the  Gospel  of  peace,  the  message  of 
the  King.  But  there  are  deadly  monsters  in  the 
way,  fiery  dragons  who  beset  the  path,  eager  to  de- 
stroy the  soldiers  of  the  King,  as  they  speed  on  their 
errands  of  mercy  and  love.  Therefore,  be  sure  you 
bear  upon  your  arm  "the  shield  of  faith,"  wherewith 
you  may  be  able  to  extinguish  the  fiery  darts  of  the 
most  wicked  one. 

Thus,  armed,  with  the  helmet  of  salvation  upon 
your  head,  and  in  your  hand  the  sword  of  the  Spirit, 
which  is  the  word  of  God,  you  are  invincible,  for  this 
armour  has  been  tested  by  the  King  himself,  and 
there  is  no  flaw  in  it.  Therefore  be  strong,  and  of  a 
good  courage. 

My  brethren,  this  surely  is  the  Advent  call  to  each 
of  us.  And  each  of  us  has  to  examine  to-day  the 
state  of  his  own  soul,  and  act,  act  on  what  he  finds 
there.  If  he  is  still  asleep,  Oh  for  God's  sake  let  him 
be  aroused  now,  at  last,  while  there  is  yet  time.  Is 


SECOND  SUNDAY  OF  ADVENT          13 

he  in  need  of  the  waters  of  penance?  Let  him  plunge 
bravely  into  that  cold  but  bracing  stream  and  cleanse 
away  his  stains.  Is  he  as  yet  unarmed,  or  armed  but 
very  imperfectly?  Let  him  see  then  to  his  armour, 
for  it  is  the  wildest  folly  to  face  such  foes  unarmed. 
Is  his  breastplate  buckled  strongly  on,  or  are  there 
fatal  defects  hi  the  straps?  Is  his  sword  belt  girded 
tightly  round  his  loins,  and  the  good  shield  and  sword 
at  hand?  If  all  this  is  well,  then  let  him  thank  the 
King  who  is  so  soon  coming,  coming  to  take  an 
account  of  His  servants,  coming  to  review  His  sol- 
diers. 

"Be  sober,  be  vigilant,  for  your  adversary  the  devil 
goeth  about  as  a  roaring  lion,  seeking  whom  he  may 
devour — whom  resist  ye,  fortes  in  fide,  strong  in  the 
faith. 

"Come,  O  Lord,  come  and  tarry  not;  loosen  the 
sins  of  thy  people.  Show  us,  O  Lord,  Thy  mercy, 
and  grant  us  Thy  salvation." 

SECOND  SUNDAY  OF  ADVENT. 

(From  the  Gospel.) 

"Blessed  is  he  that  shall  not  be  scandalised  in  me." 
(Matt.  XI;  6.) 

These  words  of  our  Lord,  my  dear  brethren,  seem 
strange  at  first  sight.  Now  is  it  possible  that  any 
one  should  be  scandalized  in  Him? — that  any  one 
should  find  in  the  words  and  actions  of  the  incarnate 
Wisdom  and  Goodness  matter  for  scandal  to  his  own 
soul?  Nay,  that  the  danger  of  incurring  this  scandal 


14  SERMONS  FOR  THE  YEAR 

is  so  great  that  he  is  pronounced  blessed  who  escapes 
the  danger.  And  yet  so  it  is.  When  our  Lord  was 
presented  in  the  temple,  forty  days  after  his  birth, 
the  holy  Simeon  prophesied  that  he  was  come  for 
the  ruin  as  well  as  the  resurrection  of  many  in 
Israel;  and  that  He  was  set  for  a  sign  that  should  be 
contradicted.  Of  Him  too  it  was  written:  '  Be- 
hold I  lay  in  Sion  a  stumbling  stone  and  a  rock  of 
scandal."  (Luke  II;  34.)  St.  Peter,  in  his  first 
epistle  assigns  a  reason  for  this  state  of  things,  for 
the  scandal  which  the  world  takes  from  Him  who 
came  for  the  world's  salvation.  (Rom.  IX;  33.) 
"To  you,  therefore,  that  believe,  He  is  honour;  but 
to  them  that  believe  not,  the  stone  which  the  build- 
ers rejected,  the  same  is  made  the  head  of  the  corner; 
and  the  stone  of  stumbling  and  a  rock  of  scandal,  to 
them  who  stumble  at  the  word,  neither  do  believe, 
whereunto  also  they  are  set."  (I  Peter  II;  7.)  One 
cause,  then,  at  least,  of  this  scandal  is  to  be  traced  to 
that  intellectual  pride  which  refuses  to  submit  to 
the  obedience  of  faith.  Let  us,  then,  consider  why 
the  doctrine  of  Christ  is  a  scandal  to  the  world. 

By  the  doctrine  of  Christ  we  understand  all  those 
truths  which  the  Church  proposes  to  us  to  be  be- 
lieved as  contained  in  divine  revelation.  "For 
this,"  says  our  Lord,  "came  I  into  the  world,  that  I 
should  give  testimony  to  the  truth."  (John  XVIII ; 
37.)  We  believe  these  truths  because  God  has  re- 
vealed them,  because  the  infallible  Church  testifies 
to  them.  These  doctrines  may,  in  a  general  way, 
be  divided  into  three  classes:  (1)  those  which  are 


SECOND  SUNDAY  OF  ADVENT          15 

within  the  compass  of  our  reason;  (2)  those  which 
we  could  not  have  discovered  by  ourselves,  but 
which  when  revealed  by  God  we  can  comprehend; 
(3)  those  which,  even  when  they  have  been  revealed, 
still  surpass  our  comprehension. 

Let  us  take  an  example  for  each  kind  (Joh.  I;  9). 
The  light  of  reason  with  which  God  enlightens  every 
man  that  comes  into  this  world,  manifests  to  us  that 
there  is  one  Supreme  Being,  the  Creator  of  all  things, 
and  not  only  this,  but  that  He  is  the  Supreme  Judge 
of  all  our  actions,  to  whom  we  shall  have  to  render  an 
account  of  all  our  thoughts,  words  and  deeds.  This 
is  a  truth  which  is  obvious  to  every  one  who  chooses 
to  use  his  mental  faculties.  Hence,  the  Scripture 
says:  "All  men  are  vain,"  that  is,  they  abuse  their 
natural  faculties,  "in  whom  there  is  not  the  knowl- 
edge of  God."  (Wisd.  XIII;  1.) 

Again,  that  St.  Peter  was  the  rock  whereon  Christ 
would  build  His  Church;  that  to  him  and  to  his  suc- 
cessors were  given  the  keys  of  the  Kingdom  of  Heaven, 
the  supreme  power  of  binding  and  loosing,  the  chief 
prerogative  of  feeding  the  flock  of  Christ;  this  is  a 
truth  which  we  should  not  have  known  unless  it  had 
been  revealed  as  it  was  by  Jesus  Christ,  but  when 
revealed,  we  can  easily  understand  its  nature,  and 
how  admirably  thereby  our  I/ord  has  secured  the 
unity,  the  indefectibility,  the  infallibility  of  His 
Church. 

Thirdly,  that  great  fundamental  mystery,  in  the 
faith  of  which  we  were  all  baptized,  the  mystery  of 
the  Trinity  in  Unity,  or  three  divine  persons  eter- 


16  SERMONS  FOR  THE  YEAR 

nally  subsisting  in  the  indissoluble  unity  of  the  divine 
essence;  this  is  a  truth  which  we  are  bound  to  be- 
lieve, which,  indeed,  all  are  bound  explicitly  to  pro- 
fess, under  pain  of  eternal  separation  from  God;  and 
yet  it  is  of  all  mysteries  the  most  incomprehensible. 
In  this  respect  the  most  ignorant  are  on  a  par  with 
the  most  learned.  We  may  read,  or  even  write, 
profound  disquisitions  on  this  mystery,  and,  after 
all,  shall  not  be  able  to  make  a  more  perfect  act  of 
faith  in  it  than  the  simplest  child  of  the  Church.  It 
is  chiefly  to  such  truths  as  these  that  St.  Peter  al- 
ludes when  he  says:  "To  us  who  believe  them  they 
are  honour,  but  to  them  that  believe  not,  who 
stumble  at  the  word,  they  are  a  scandal." 

Now,  let  us  take  an  example  from  the  gospel  of 
this  scandal  which  men  took  at  Christ's  doctrine. 
Our  blessed  Lord,  when  preaching  to  the  Jews,  took 
occasion  once,  from  His  miracle  of  the  multiplication 
of  the  loaves,  to  speak  to  them  of  that  much  more 
stupendous  miracle  which  He  was  about  to  work  by 
the  institution  of  the  Holy  Eucharist;  by  which  He 
promised  to  give  them  the  true  bread  of  life,  of  which 
whosoever  should  partake,  should  not  taste  death 
but  should  possess  everlasting  life.  We  read,  then, 
that  the  Jews  murmured  at  Him,  because  He  had 
said:  "I  am  the  living  Bread  which  came  down 
from  heaven."  (John  VI;  51),  but,  though  they 
murmured,  our  Lord  only  repeated  more  distinctly 
what  He  was  about  to  do;  "The  Bread  that  I  will 
give  is  My  Flesh  for  the  life  of  the  world."  The 
Jews,  therefore,  strove  amongst  themselves,  saying: 


SECOND  SUNDAY  OF  ADVENT          17 

'How  can  this  man  give  us  His  Flesh  to  eat?'  Then 
Jesus  said  to  them:  "Amen,  Amen,  I  say  unto  you, 
except  you  eat  the  Flesh  of  the  Son  of  man,  and 
drink  His  blood,  you  shall  not  have  life  in  you :  (52- 
54-56)  for  My  Flesh  is  meat  indeed,  and  My  Blood 
is  drink  indeed."  Many,  therefore,  of  His  disciples 
hearing  it  said:  'This  saying  is  hard  and  who  can 
hear  it?'  But  Jesus  knowing  in  himself  that  His 
disciples  murmured  at  Him,  said  to  them:  (61,  62) 
'Doth  this  scandalize  you?'  After  this,  many  of 
His  disciples  went  back,  and  walked  no  more  with 
Him.  Then  Jesus  said  to  the  Twelve:  'Will  you 
also  go  away?'  And,  Simon  Peter  answered  Him: 
'Lord,  to  whom  shall  we  go?  Thou  hast  the  words 
of  eternal  life;  and  we  have  believed  and  have 
known  that  Thou  art  the  Christ,  the  Son  of  God.'  " 
(67,  70.)  This  mystery  of  the  holy  Eucharist,  like 
the  mystery  of  the  incarnation,  of  which  it  is  the 
sequel,  consisting,  as  it  does,  of  a  two-fold  element, 
divine  and  human,  belongs,  in  some  respects,  to  the 
second,  and  in  others  to  the  third  class  of  truths. 
For,  whilst,  on  the  one  hand,  there  are  aspects  of  it 
which  appeal  most  intelligently  to  our  human  sym- 
pathies, others  again,  surpass  the  utmost  bounds  of 
human  comprehension.  The  holy  Eucharist,  then, 
is  one  of  the  mysteries  which  our  Lord  revealed  to 
the  world,  and  which  was  destined  to  prove  a  scandal 
to  thousands,  who,  imitating  the  incredulous  Jews, 
say:  "This  is  a  hard  saying;  who  can  hear  it?" 
On  the  other  hand,  the  faithful  members  of  the 
Church  imitate  the  simple  and  implicit  faith  of  St. 


18  SERMONS  FOR  THE^YEAR 

Peter,  and  say:  "Thou  hast  the  words  of  eternal 
life." 

And  thus  it  is  with  all  the  doctrines  of  the  Church, 
whether  they  be  within  the  compass  of  our  reason 
or  beyond  it;  we  believe  them  not  because  we  can 
prove  them,  or  even  comprehend  them,  but  because 
they  are  the  words  of  Him  who  is  "the  way  and  the 
truth  and  the  life."  (John  XIV;  6.)  Hence,  it 
follows  that  it  is  absurd  to  say  that  we  believe  one 
truth  more  firmly  than  another;  for  the  motive  of 
our  belief  being  the  same  in  all,  we  believe  all  or 
none  with  equal  firmness.  Hence,  also  we  find  that 
those  who  have  not  the  gift  of  faith,  not  only  take 
scandal  at  this  or  that  doctrine,  but  that  their  whole 
mental  attitude  is  utterly  opposed  to  the  habit  of 
faith,  the  doctrine  of  Christ  is  wholly  a  scandal  to 
them.  They  dare  to  measure  the  immensity  of 
God  by  their  own  puny  stature;  and  to  guage  the 
depths  of  His  impenetrable  counsels  by  their  shallow 
judgments. 

The  greatest  perfection  of  the  human  intellect 
consists  in  submitting  it  to  the  obedience  of  faith; 
and  the  most  wonderful  discoveries  of  human  science 
could  never  compare,  in  sublimity  and  grandeur, 
with  the  simple  exclamation  of  the  poor  man  in  the 
gospel.  (Mark  IX;  23.)  "I  do  believe,  Lord;  help 
thou  my  unbelief."  The  world  will  call  this  pious 
nonsense;  but  we  do  not  care  for  that;  for  we  know 
that  "The  foolish  things  of  the  world  hath  God 
chosen  that  He  may  confound  the  wise;  and  the  weak 
things  of  the  world  hath  God  chosen  that  He  may 


SECOND  SUNDAY  OF  ADVENT          19 

confound  the  strong."  (I  Cor.  I;  27)  And  the  day 
will  surely  come  when  the  wisdom  of  this  world  will 
be  put  to  shame  by  the  foolishness  of  the  gospel  of 
Jesus  Christ. 

And  now  let  us  ask  ourselves,  in  conclusion,  why 
the  Church  has  proposed  to  our  devout  meditation 
this  gospel  in  the  midst  of  Advent.  It  is  in  order 
that  we  may  not  be  scandalized  at  the  humility  of 
our  Lord's  appearance;  at  His  poverty  and  naked- 
ness; at  the  meanness  of  His  crib;  at  the  rude  com- 
panions who  will  surround  Him.  In  a  very  short 
time  we  shall  be  invited  to  go  with  the  shepherds, 
and  see  this  Word  which  has  come  to  pass  in  Bethle- 
hem. We  shall  then  see  the  incarnate  Word  a 
speechless  Babe ;  the  Architect  of  the  Universe  bound 
in  swaddling  clothes:  (Ps.  CXLIV;  16)  Him,  who 
openeth  His  "Hand  and  filleth  with  blessing  every 
living  creature,"  nourished  at  the  breast  of  His 
Virgin  Mother;  Him,  whose  providence  "reacheth 
from  end  to  end,"  carried  a  helpless  infant  in  his 
mother's  arms.  (Wisd.  VIII;  1)  With  reason, 
therefore,  does  the  Church  bring  before  us  these 
words  of  our  divine  Lord;  that  we  may  not  be  scan- 
dalized at  all  this,  but  rather  may  be  moved  thereby 
to  imitate  His  example. 

Let  us,  then,  prepare  for  His  coming  by  becoming 
little  children  ourselves,  especially  by  the  simplicity 
of  a  childlike  faith;  by  the  entire  submission  of  all 
our  faculties  to  the  teaching  of  holy  Church.  Let 
us,  in  the  words  of  St.  Peter,  with  the  simplicity  of 
"new-born  babes,  desire  the  rational  milk"  of  doc- 


20  SERMONS  FOR  THE  YEAR 

trine,  "without  guile,"  at  the  breasts  of  our  Mother, 
the  Church.  (I  Peter  II;  2)  I/et  us  submit  to  be 
carried  in  her  arms,  and  to  be  swathed  by  her  in  the 
bands  of  holy  discipline.  Thus  we  shall,  most  as- 
suredly, prepare  ourselves  in  a  fitting  manner,  for 
the  holy  solemnity  which  is  approaching.  And 
may  "the  God  of  hope  fill  you  with  all  joy  and  peace 
in  believing,"  and  enable  you,  by  His  grace,  to  ob- 
tain the  happy  fruition,  in  perfect  charity,  of  that 
which  you  now,  by  faith  and  hope,  believe  and  adore. 
(Rom.  XV;  13.) 

SECOND  SUNDAY  OF  ADVENT. 

(From  the  Lesson.) 

"Now  the  God  of  patience  and  of  comfort  grant  you 
to  be  of  one  mind,  one  towards  another,  according  to 
Jesus  Christ."  (Rom.  XV.  5.) 

When  a  father  is  on  the  point  of  leaving  this  world, 
and  his  children  are  all  gathered  weeping  around  him, 
how  eagerly  do  they  listen  to  the  words  which  fall 
from  his  lips,  the  last  which  he  will  address  to  them ; 
how  carefully  do  they  treasure  them  up ;  how  often  in 
after  life  do  they  recall  them  to  mind,  and  find  in  that 
recollection  comfort  and  instruction  amidst  the 
troubles  and  dangers  which  surround  them.  Now, 
my  dear  brethren,  Jesus  Christ  is  our  father,  and  our 
father  in  a  far  more  perfect  sense  than  any  earthly 
parent ;  He  is  a  father  whose  love  for  His  children  is 
Infinite;  whose  wisdom  in  guiding  them  is  also  infi- 
nite. And  when  this  all-wise  and  loving  father  was 


SECOND  SUNDAY  OF  ADVENT          21 

about  to  quit  this  world,  and  was  taking  leave  of  us, 
His  sorrowful  children,  what  were  the  words  of  coun- 
sel which  He  addressed  to  us,  and  which  we  ought  to 
treasure  up  in  our  hearts  and  meditate  upon  all  the 
days  of  our  life?  They  are  these :  " A  new  command- 
ment I  give  unto  you,  that  you  love  one  another;  as 
I  have  loved  you,  that  you  also  love  one  another. 
By  this  shall  all  men  know  that  you  are  my  disciples, 
if  you  have  love  one  for  another."  (John  XIII;  34, 
35.) 

Let  us,  then,  meditate  upon  these  divine  words, 
especially  as  the  apostle,  in  this  day's  lesson  exhorts 
us  to  the  practice  of  this  precept  of  fraternal  charity 
towards  one  another  in  the  words  which  you  have 
just  heard.  Another  reason  which  makes  this  duty 
an  appropriate  subject  of  meditation  at  this  time  is, 
that  the  present  is  a  time  of  preparation  for  the  solem- 
nity of  Christmas;  and  what  better  preparation  can 
we  make  for  the  coming  of  the  Babe  of  Bethlehem; 
or  rather  what  preparation  will  be  sufficient  for  His 
coming,  who  came  to  establish  peace  on  earth,  if  our 
preparation  does  not  include  the  fulfillment  of  the 
great  essential  precept  of  charity? 

Our  Lord  calls  it  a  new  Commandment,  not  because 
there  was  no  obligation  previously  of  loving  one 
another,  for  that  obligation  is  an  essential  part  of  the 
great  moral  law,  by  which  the  conscience  of  every 
human  being  is  bound  the  moment  he  begins  to  exist ; 
for  man  was  created  to  the  image  and  likeness  of  God ; 
and  since  God  is  love,  it  must  needs  follow  that  love 
is  a  necessary  form  impressed  upon  our  being;  that 


22  SERMONS  FOR  THE  YEAR 

love  is  the  rule  of  and  end  of  all  our  actions.  But 
our  Lord  calls  this  a  new  Commandment  for  other 
reasons:  (1)  because  He  establishes  a  new  motive  for 
that  obligation;  (2)  because  He  establishes  a  new 
and  higher  standard  of  perfection  according  to  which 
it  must  be  practised.  Let  us  consider  these  two 
points. 

(1)  By  a  motive  is  meant  a  reason  which  impels 
us  to  a  particular  course  of  action.  Thus,  men  are 
impelled  to  undergo  the  labours  and  fatigues  of  daily 
toil,  or  the  anxieties  and  cares  of  business  occupations, 
by  the  desire  of  providing  subsistence  for  themselves 
and  their  families;  that  is  their  motive.  Others, 
again,  work  and  occupy  themselves  in  business  for 
the  sake  of  the  work  and  the  occupation ;  that  is  their 
motive.  Some  men  sacrifice  their  time,  their  health, 
their  means  in  various  pursuits  of  pleasure,  in  works 
of  public  interest,  in  the  affairs  of  state  and  social 
life,  for  the  sake  of  the  pleasure,  the  applause,  the 
distinction  which  those  occupations  bring.  These 
are  their  motives.  And  it  may  easily  be  seen  what 
are  a  man's  motives;  for,  if  a  motive  ceases  to  act,  he 
no  longer  pursues  that  course  of  action ;  if  his  motive 
changes,  he  will  pursue  a  different  course  of  action. 
When,  therefore,  our  Lord  lays  it  down  as  a  new  Com- 
mandment, that  we  should  love  one  another  as  He 
has  loved  us,  this  means  that  the  old  obligation  is 
enforced  by  a  new  and  still  more  pressing  motive,  the 
love  which  He  bears  for  us.  Hence  we  are  bound  to 
love  one  another,  not  only  because  we  are  all  fellow- 
creatures  made  by  the  same  Almighty  Hand,  and  to 


SECOND  SUNDAY  OF  ADVENT         23 

His  own  image  and  likeness,  and  created  for  the  same 
end,  but,  chiefly,  because  we  have,  through  the  incar- 
nation of  God  the  Son,  been  made  fellow-members  of 
His  Body;  because  we  are  all  children  of  His  Spouse, 
the  Church;  because  we  are  all  partakers  of  His 
Flesh  and  Blood,  through  the  sacrament  of  the  Holy 
Eucharist.  It  was  the  love  of  Jesus  Christ  which 
compelled  Him  to  undergo  all  that  He  underwent, 
to  become  incarnate  amongst  us,  to  live  and  converse 
with  us,  to  suffer  the  hardships  of  His  public  mission, 
to  endure  the  ignominy  and  torments  of  His  bitter 
passion  and  death.  Hence,  my  brethren,  the  love 
which  brought  God  the  Son  from  heaven  to  unite 
Himself  to  us,  becomes  an  all-powerful  motive  why 
we,  in  our  turn,  should  be  "of  one  mind,  one  towards 
another,  according  to  Jesus  Christ." 

II.  But  that  love,  which  He  so  abundantly  lav- 
ished upon  us,  His  creatures,  is  also  the  measure  of 
the  love  which  we  are  bound  to  feel  towards  our 
fellow-creatures;  and  it  is  the  measure  and  rule  of  our 
love  in  two  ways:  (1)  as  to  the  object;  and  (2)  as  to 
the  extent  of  our  love. 

(1)  As  to  the  object:  We  are  bound  to  love  all 
whom  He  has  loved;  and  who  are  they?  The  whole 
human  race  without  exception.  Christ  excepts  none 
from  His  love.  Are  not  we  all  born  children  of  wrath? 
Are  not  we  all  sinners  in  His  sight?  And  yet  He 
came  to  die  for  all,  to  save  all.  There  never  was,  and 
there  never  will  be  a  sinner,  no  matter  how  great  and 
numerous  his  crimes  may  be,  who  need  despair,  or 
think  himself  beyond  the  reach  of  the  love  of  Christ. 


24  SERMONS  FOR  THE  YEAR 

Why,  the  very  first  fruits  of  His  redemption,  the  first 
drops  of  His  atoning  Blood,  were  shed  upon  the 
robber  who  was  crucified  with  Him.  Hence,  my 
brethren,  the  rule  of  Christian  charity  is  as  simple  as 
it  is  beautiful,  to  love  every  human  creature  for 
Christ's  sake,  without  making  any  exception  what- 
soever, whether  on  the  score  of  nationality  or  religion ; 
no  matter  what  may  be  the  vices  and  defects  which 
render  them  repulsive  in  our  eyes;  no  matter  what 
injuries  or  outrages  they  may  have  inflicted  upon  us. 
If  we  except  one  single  being  from  our  love,  we  have 
broken  the  whole  law  of  charity;  we  have  fallen  away 
altogether  from  the  grace  of  God.  "If  any  man  say 
that  I  love  God,  and  hateth  his  brother,  he  is  a  liar, 
and  the  truth  is  not  in  him."  (I  John  IV;  20 :  II,  4.) 
(2)  The  love  of  Christ  is  also  the  standard  or 
measure  of  the  degree  in  which  we  ought  to  love  our 
fellow-creatures.  In  this  respect  also,  it  is  a  new 
Commandment;  inasmuch  as,  before  the  coming  of 
our  Lord,  the  world  had  never  seen  such  an  example 
of  perfect  love;  and,  therefore,  not  having  the  ex- 
ample before  their  eyes,  men  could  not  imitate  it. 
But  when  that  example  was  once  given,  then  a  new 
obligation  of  fraternal  charity  sprang  into  existence. 
Accordingly,  my  dear  brethren,  this  Commandment 
is  binding  on  us  in  all  its  intensity.  We  have  before 
our  eyes  the  example  of  the  love  with  which  Christ 
has  loved  us,  and  what  that  love  has  made  Him  suffer 
for  our  sakes ;  and  that  example  we  are  bound  to  imi- 
tate. A  little  later  on  in  this  same  discourse  at  His 
Last  Supper,  He  said:  "This  is  My  Commandment, 


SECOND  SUNDAY  OF  ADVENT          25 

that  you  love  one  another,  as  I  have  loved  you. 
Greater  love  than  this  no  man  hath,  that  a  man  lay 
down  his  life  for  his  friends."  (John  XV;  12,  13) 
And  what  did  our  Ix)rd  do?  He  laid  down  His  life 
for  His  enemies,  for  those  who  were  putting  Him  to 
a  cruel  death.  "God  commandeth  His  charity  to- 
wards us,  because,  when  as  yet  we  were  sinners,  ac- 
cording to  the  time,  Christ  died  for  us.  (Rom.  V; 
8,  9.)  And  His  death  is  our  example.  "Christ  also 
suffered  for  us,  leaving  you  an  example,  that  you 
should  follow  his  steps."  (I  Peter  II;  21.)  Hence, 
my  brethren,  the  precept  of  Christian  Charity  is  as 
simple  as  it  is  beautiful,  not  only  with  regard  to  the 
object  on  which  it  is  to  be  exercised,  but  also  as  to 
the  degree  in  which  it  is  to  be  practiced.  We  should 
be  prepared,  if  necessary,  to  lay  down  our  life  for  our 
brother's  sake,  whether  he  be  friend  or  enemy;  and 
since  life  is  the  most  precious  of  temporal  goods,  we 
ought  to  be  prepared  to  make  every  other  sacrifice 
for  the  same  reason. 

I  think,  my  dear  brethren,  that  these  few  but  pre- 
cious words  which  our  Lord  uttered  just  before  His 
passion,  and  which  I  have  tried  to  develop  without 
exaggeration,  ought  to  furnish  each  one  of  us  with 
ample  matter  for  self-examination;  to  see  how  far 
our  sentiments  towards  our  brethren  fall  short  of  the 
gospel  standard,  especially  at  this  holy  season  of 
pieparation,  when  we  ought  to  be  striving  to  purify 
our  hearts  and  minds  as  much  as  possible  for  the 
coming  of  our  infant  Saviour,  that  we  may  be  worthy 
to  receive  His  blessing,  and  to  share  in  that  Spiritual 


26  SERMONS  FOR  THE  YEAR 

peace  and  joy  which  He  comes  to  bestow  on  all  those 
of  good  will,  and  who  strive  to  be  of  one  mind,  one 
towards  another,  according  to  Jesus  Christ: — the 
blessing,  namely,  which  He  himself  has  promised  to 
all  such — that  they  shall  be  called  and  shall  be  the 
children  of  God,  and  heirs,  therefore,  of  His  heavenly 
Kingdom. 


THIRD  SUNDAY  OF  ADVENT. 

(From  the  Gospel.) 

"There  hath  stood  one  in  the  midst  of  you  whom 
you  know  not."  (John  1 ;  26.) 

I  wish  to  call  your  attention  my  dear  brethren, 
to  the  important  truth  of  the  divine  presence  amongst 
us.  For  if  we  did  but  realize  this  presence,  our  lives 
would  be  very  different  from  what  they  are.  The 
sinner  would  not  dare  to  sin  in  the  presence  of  the 
most  high — the  imperfect  would  be  ashamed  of 
their  luke-warmness  and  want  of  generosity,  and  all 
would  be  stimulated  to  a  more  perfect  practice  of 
Christian  piety.  Let  us  then  be  fully  persuaded  of 
this  truth,  that  God  is  not  absent  from  us,  but  only 
hidden.  "Verily  Thou  art  a  hidden  God,  the  God 
of  Israel,  the  Saviour."  (Is.  XLV.  15.)  Absent 
from  us  He  is  not  and  cannot  be,  for  "in  Him  we 
live  and  move  and  are."  (Acts  XVII;  28.)  He 
made  us  and  He  preserves  us,  and  it  is  His  fatherly 
hand  that  guides  us.  He  has  ever  "given  His  angels 
charge  over  thee,  to  keep  thee  in  all  thy  ways." 


THIRD  SUNDAY  OF  ADVENT  27 

(Ps.  XC;  II.)    This  is  the  first  wav  in  which  God's 
presence  is  manifest  to  us;  by  His  providence. 

I.  Let  us  look  back  on  our  past  life;  and  we  shall 
see  how  the  providence  of  God  has  encompassed  us 
around  on  every  side,  so  that  the  evil  thing  should 
not  come  nigh  unto  us;  and  when,  alas!  we  became 
too  familiar  with  sin,  and  had  perhaps  lost  or  were  in 
danger  of  losing  our  innocence,  did  not  His  provi- 
dence still  watch  over  us,  reminding  us  of  the  piety 
of  our  early  days,  and  curbing  the  irregular  desires 
of  corrupt  nature  by  the  sweet  inspirations  of  His 
grace,  calling  us  to  the  love  and  practice  of  purity 
and  holiness.  And  if,  unhappily,  we  had  given 
ourselves  up  to  habits  of  sin,  how  can  we  be  suffi- 
ciently grateful  to  the  infinite  mercy  and  patience 
and  long-suffering  of  Almighty  God,  in  bearing  with 
our  crimes  and  ingratitude,  in  withholding  His  just 
vengeance,  when  we  were  provoking  Him  to  punish 
us;  and  in  visiting  us  even  then,  with  His  grace, 
calling  us  to  repentance.  Oh !  if  it  were  only  not  of 
common  gratitude,  let  us  look  back  on  these  things, 
and  bless  the  providence  which  has,  through  such 
marvelous,  secret  and  mysterious  ways,  watched 
over  us  from  our  infancy,  and  made  us  what  we  are 
and  such  as  we  are.  Let  us  bless  that  divine  provi- 
dence which  reaches  "from  end  to  end  mightily 
and  ordereth  all  things  sweetly,"  (Wisd.  VIII;  1) 
and  which  makes  "all  things  work  together  unto 
good",  (Rom.  VIII ;  28)  on  behalf  of  His  elect.  This 
thought  should  also  inspire  us  with  confidence  to 
rely  upon  the  same  divine  providence  in  the  future ; 


28  SERMONS  FOR  THE  YEAR 

to  cast  all  our  care  upon  God,  for  He  hath  a  "care  of 
all;"  (Wisd.  XII;  13)  to  walk  always  confidently  and 
cheerfully  in  the  divine  presence,  saying  with  the 
Psalmist,  "My  eyes  are  ever  towards  the  L-ord;  for 
He  shall  pluck  my  feet  out  of  the  snare."  (Ps. 
XXIV;  15.) 

II.  But,  my  dear  brethren,  there  is  another  kind 
of  presence  by  which  God  is  still  more  intimately 
present  to  the  soul.  I  mean  by  His  grace,  His 
providence  extends  to  all,  both  good  and  bad;  for 
He  "maketh  His  sun  to  rise  upon  the  good  and  bad" 
alike.  (Matt.  V;  45.)  But  His  sanctifying  grace, 
that  is  the  portion  of  His  faithful  and  chosen  seventy 
alone.  And,  Oh!  my  dear  brethren,  how  shall  I 
describe  the  character  of  this  ineffable  presence? 
Who  shall  estimate  the  dignity  and  the  beauty  of  a 
soul  in  grace?  Even  in  this  fallen  world,  there  is 
somewhat  left  of  its  pristine  loveliness,  harmony, 
order  and  sweetness,  such  as  God  made  it  in  the  be- 
ginning. The  starry  canopy  of  heaven,  the  flowery 
meads,  the  graceful  forms  which  adorn  the  world 
still,  all  bespeak  the  handiwork  of  God.  But  what 
is  all  this  compared  to  a  soul  in  grace.  A  soul  in 
grace  is  the  dwelling  place  of  the  Holy  Spirit;  and 
not  the  soul  alone,  but  the  body  also  is  sanctified 
by  that  divine  presence.  "Know  you  not  that  your 
members  are  the  temple  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  who  is  in 
you,  whom  you  have  from  God?"  (I  Cor.  VI;  19.) 
What  is  heaven,  but  God's  dwelling  place?  And 
what  makes  the  light  and  joy  and  bliss  of  heaven, 
but  God's  presence  there?  Then,  the  soul  in  grace 


THIRD  SUNDAY  OF  ADVENT  29 

must  be  heaven;  for  God  dwells  therein;  and  there 
is  the  light  of  God's  countenance,  and  the  joy  of 
His  presence,  and  the  bliss  of  His  sweet  communica- 
tions. What  can  compare  with  the  unutterable 
peace,  the  "peace  which  surpasseth  all  understand- 
ing," (Phil.  IV;  7)  the  peace  of  a  soul  possessing 
God,  possessed  by  God?  Such  a  state  brings  one 
back  almost  to  the  condition  of  our  first  parents  be- 
fore the  fall;  when  man  walked  with  God,  conversed 
with  Him  face  to  face;  and  all  this  happiness  is  the 
portion  of  every  one  who,  by  grace,  has  received  the 
adoption  of  the  Children  of  God.  "Behold,  what 
manner  of  charity  the  Father  hath  bestowed  upon 
us,  that  we  should  be  called  and  should  be  the  sons 
of  God."  (I  John  III;  1.)  "Learn,  O  Christian," 
cries  out  the  great  St.  Leo,  "Learn  thy  own  dignity." 
The  word  of  God  became  man  that,  in  our  human 
nature,  He  might  unite  us  to  Himself;  that  He  might 
dwell  in  us,  and  we  in  Him;  that  we  might  become 
one  with  Him,  even  as  He  and  the  Father  are  one. 
(John  XVII;  21.)  Oh!  my  brethren,  what  is  the 
cause  that  so  many  of  those  who  are  striving  to  lead 
good  Christian  lives  are  yet  so  imperfect,  contin- 
ually falling  into  the  same  transgressions,  have  so 
little  relish  for  prayer,  are  so  slothful  and  negligent 
in  spiritual  things,  have  so  little  zeal  for  God's 
honour,  so  little  of  the  spirit  of  self  sacrifice?  It  is, 
my  brethren,  because  they  do  not  realize  God's 
presence;  they  do  not  walk  in  that  presence;  their 
actions  are  performed,  not  from  a  supernatural,  but 
from  some  human  or  imperfect  motive.  What  op- 


30  SERMONS  FOR  THE  YEAR 

port  unities  of  meriting  a  heavenly  reward,  what  joy 
and  peace,  even  in  this  life,  are  not  such  as  these 
daily,  hourly  sacrificing  by  their  heedless,  thought- 
less lives!  Let  us  then  enter  into  ourselves,  and 
stand  forever  recollected  in  the  divine  presence  en- 
shrined within  us;  that  we  may  not  bo  surprised  by 
any  human  weakness.  Let  us  reverence  our  souls 
and  bodies,  which  are  not  our  own,  but  belong  to 
Jesus  Christ.  Let  us  reverence  them  as  the  temples 
of  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  fear  to  pollute  that  temple 
by  any  wilful  sin;  for,  "if  any  man  violate  the  temple 
of  God,  him  shall  God  destroy."  (I  Cor.  Ill;  17.) 

III.  There  is  a  third  kind  of  presence  of  God 
amongst  us,  which  is  the  most  august  of  all,  and  yet 
the  most  loving  and  amiable  of  all.     I  mean  our 
Lord's  real  presence  in  the  blessed  Sacrament  of  the 
Altar.     But  this  subject  demands  a  discourse  to 
itself;  and  so,  without  dwelling  farther  on  that  point, 
I  pass  on,  in  conclusion,  to  a  fourth  kind  of  presence, 
the  nature  of  which  is  such  as  to  make  this  medita- 
tion peculiarly  applicable  to  the  season  of  Advent, 
the  season  of  preparation  for  our  Lord's  coming;  the 
more  especially  as  this  kind  of  presence  is  one  which 
you  are  liable  to  overlook,  unless  it  is  pointed  out  to 
you. 

IV.  It  is  a  presence  which  is  not  much  appre- 
ciated in  these  days  as  it  was  in  the  ages  of  faith. 
I  might  call  it  the  liturgical  presence.     God  is  pres- 
ent to  the  individual  soul  by  his  grace;  but  He  also, 
in  a  special  way,  resides  in  the  whole  body  of    the 
Church,  animating  it  as  the  soul  does  the  body. 


THIRD  SUNDAY  OF  ADVENT  31 

Hence,  there  is  a  special  presence  of  God  amongst 
the  faithful  when  they  are  gathered  together  to  join 
in  the  offices  of  the  Church.  "Where  there  are  two 
or  three  gathered  together  in  My  name,  there  am  I 
in  the  midst  of  them."  (Matt.  XVIII;  20.)  When- 
ever, therefore,  the  Church  bids  us  commemorate 
some  mystery  of  our  lord's  life,  this  is  not  a  bare 
commemoration  of  something  long  past  and  gone, 
as  happens  in  worldly  commemorations,  because 
Jesus  Christ  lives  forever.  He  is  the  same  "yester- 
day and  to-day  and  the  same  forever."  (Hebr. 
XIII;  8.)  And  our  Lord,  as  it  were,  renews  in  him- 
self the  operation  of  that  mystery,  and  dispenses 
those  graces  of  which  the  mystery  is  significant. 
Thus,  on  Easter-day,  our  Lord  really,  though  mysti- 
cally, rises  triumphant  over  death,  and  gives  us  a 
pledge  of  a  like  glorious  resurrection.  I  say,  really, 
though  mystically,  because  all  these  solemnities  are 
celebrated  by  the  Church  with  the  holy  sacrifice  of 
the  Mass,  in  which  our  Lord  is  really  present  and 
mystically  slain  for  us;  and  thus,  too,  on  Christmas 
morn,  the  divine  Babe  of  Bethlehem  will  come  really 
amongst  us;  as  really  as  He  did  on  the  first  Christmas 
morn  when  the  echoes  of  that  ever-blessed  night 
were  first  awakened  by  the  angels'  hymn:  'Claris 
in  excelsis  Deo.1  He  will  come,  gay  as  a  Babe,  not 
in  power  and  majesty,  not  to  execute  judgment, 
with  no  frown  on  His  face,  no  anger  in  His  eyes,  not 
with  an  outstretched  arm  to  strike.  But  He^will 
come  as  a  helpless  infant,  speechless;  therefore,  He 
cannot  condemn ;  even  as  the  Babe  first  born  cannot 


32  SERMONS  FOR  THE  YEAR 

discern  friend  from  foe,  so  the  greatest  sinners  may 
approach  Him  then  with  impunity,  if  only  he  comes 
to  seek  reconciliation.  He  cannot  reproach  them, 
for  He  cannot  speak;  He  cannot  strike,  for  His  arm 
is  powerless.  Say  not  that  you  are  poor  and  de- 
spised and  naked  and  cold  and  hungry,  for  the  more 
poor  and  despised  and  naked  and  cold  and  hungry 
you  are,  the  more  dear  you  will  be  to  Him,  because 
you  will  be  more  like  unto  Him.  Go,  then,  my 
brethren,  to  Bethlehem,  and  rejoice  in  the  presence 
of  your  new-born  Saviour.  Let  it  not  be  said  of 
you  that  "there  hath  stood  One  in  the  midst  of  you, 
and  you  knew  it  not."  That  "He  came  unto  His 
Own,  and  His  received  Him  not;"  (John  I;  II), 
but  be  of  the  number  of  those  who  received  Him, 
who  welcomed  Him  with  open  arms;  for  "as  many  as 
received  Him,  He  gave  them  power  to  be  made  the 
Sons  of  God."  (12) 


THIRD  SUNDAY  OF  ADVENT. 

(From  the  I^esson.) 

"In  everything,  by  prayer  and  supplication  with 
thanksgiving,  let  your  petitions  be  made  known  to 
God:1  (Phil.  IV;  6.) 

The  holy  season  of  Advent  is  set  apart  by  the 
Church  as  a  time  of  preparation  for  our  lord's  com- 
ing. And  the  preparation  we  are  to  make  should 
consist  chiefly  of  the  practice  of  the  three  eminent 
good  works;  prayer,  fasting  and  alms-deeds.  In 


THIRD  SUNDAY  OF  ADVENT  33 

order,  then,  that  we  may  conform  to  the  spirit  of  the 
Church,  and  exercise  ourselves  in  these  good  works, 
let  us  meditate  a  few  moments  on  the  subject  of 
prayer. 

(1)  The  importance  of  prayer  may  be  gathered 
from  the  maxim  of  a  great  saint  who  said,  "He  who 
prays  will  be  saved;  he  who  does  not  pray  will  be 
lost."  The  truth  of  this  maxim  will  appear  to  every 
one  after  a  very  little  consideration.  There  can  be 
no  doubt  that  no  one  will  be  saved  who  does  not  keep 
the  Commandments;  but  we  cannot  keep  the  Com- 
mandments without  God's  grace;  and  we  cannot  ob- 
tain God's  grace,  unless  we  ask  for  it,  that  is  unless  we 
pray.  For  grace,  as  the  very  name  denotes,  is  essen- 
tially a  gratuitous  gift,  for  which  we  are  indebted  to 
God's  bounty,  to  obtain  which,  therefore,  we  must, 
as  the  apostle  reminds  us,  "by  prayer  and  supplica- 
tion with  thanksgiving,  let  our  petitions  be  made 
known  to  God."  Not  only  is  it  impossible,  without 
God's  grace,  to  keep  the  Commandments,  but  we  have 
also  been  taught  that  it  is  impossible  to  do  any  good 
work  whatsoever  towards  our  salvation  without  the 
help  of  God's  grace;  and  this  grace  we  can  only  obtain 
by  prayer  and  the  holy  sacraments.  There  are, 
therefore,  two  sources  through  which  grace  enters 
the  soul — prayer  and  the  holy  sacraments.  But  we 
cannot  receive  the  sacraments  themselves  worthily, 
ordinarily  speaking,  unless  we  pray.  Hence,  it  is  a 
fundamental  principle  of  the  Christian  religion  that 
we  cannot  save  our  souls,  nor  indeed,  take  a  single 
step  towards  our  salvation,  without  prayer;  that, 


34  SERMONS  FOR  THE  YEAR 

with  prayer,  we  may  do  everything;  without  prayer, 
we  can  do  nothing. 

We  may  also  judge  of  the  importance  of  prayer 
from  another  point  of  view;  by  the  hostility  which 
the  devil  manifests  to  prayer,  and  the  extraordinary 
pains  he  takes  in  order  to  prevent  people  from  pray- 
ing. In  fact,  the  devil  scarcely  heeds  what  we  do, 
so  long  as  we  do  not  pray,  or  do  not  pray  fervently. 
The  devil,  of  course,  is  constantly  endeavoring  to 
draw  us  into  sin.  If  he  succeeds,  he  is  pleased  surely 
enough;  if  he  does  not  succeed  in  that,  but  can  only 
manage  to  make  us  disgusted  with  prayer,  or  fill  our 
minds  with  distractions  when  we  do  pray,  he  is 
equally  satisfied,  knowing  well  that,  sooner  or  later, 
the  soul  that  does  not  pray,  must  inevitably  fall  a 
victim  to  his  stratagems.  This  is  the  explanation, 
my  dear  brethren,  of  a  fact  which  must  have  often 
struck  you — that  people  find  comparatively  little 
difficulty  in  observing  their  other  spiritual  duties, 
such  as  hearing  Mass,  frequenting  the  Sacraments, 
engaging  in  active  works  of  piety  and  charity;  but 
when  they  come  to  the  exercise  of  prayer,  they  en- 
counter an  insuparable  difficulty.  They  feel  an 
intense  disgust  for  it,  before  commencing  it,  they 
avail  themselves  of  any  trivial  excuse  for  putting  it 
off;  and  when  they  do  begin  to  pray,  their  minds  are 
instantly  filled  with  all  manner  of  suggestions  and 
trains  of  ideas,  which  prevent  them  from  giving  their 
attention  to  prayer;  so  that  there  is  a  miserable  sense 
of  unsatisfactoriness  about  the  whole  thing;  as  if  it 
were  all  in  vain  and  not  worth  the  trouble — as  if,  in 


THIRD  SUNDAY  OF  ADVENT  35 

fact,  we  had  better  give  up  the  attempt  altogether. 
This,  indeed,  is  the  difficulty  which  constitutes  the 
chief  part  of  that  ceaseless  struggle  which  character- 
izes the  spiritual  life;  the  lassitude  from  which  we 
suffer,  and  the  disinclination  we  feel  to  persevere  in 
prayer,  proceed  from  sloth,  which  is  one  of  the  seven 
capital  enemies  of  our  salvation.  And  if  we  are  in 
earnest  about  our  salvation,  we  must  beyond  all 
question,  take  up  arms  against  this  enemy,  and  resist 
him  even  unto  death.  There  can  be  no  doubt,  then, 
that  this  strange  aversion  to  prayer  is  often  to  be 
traced  to  the  direct  agency  of  the  evil  one.  He  cares 
little  for  our  external  works  of  piety  and  religion  and 
our  works  of  charity;  indeed,  he  is  rather  inclined  to 
encourage  them,  if  only  he  foresees  that  we  shall,  in 
consequence,  take  such  pride  in  them  as  to  fall  un- 
suspectingly into  some  trap  which  he  is  preparing  for 
us.  But,  when  we  begin  to  pray  in  earnest,  then  it 
becomes  a  serious  matter  for  him.  He  knows  well 
enough  that  any  one  who  prays  earnestly  is  sure  to 
escape  all  his  snares,  that  he  has  no  chance  with  that 
soul;  and  he  will,  accordingly,  bring  all  his  legions  of 
wicked  spirits  to  prevent  that  soul  from  praying. 
He  will  torment  that  soul  with  distractions;  he  will 
put  every  imaginable  obstacle  in  the  way;  he  will 
suggest  to  that  soul  a  thousand  plausible  ideas  of 
other  things  they  might  do  for  the  glory  of  God,  for 
the  good  of  their  neighbors,  for  their  own  spiritual 
benefit — except  prayer — that  will  never  do.  Such, 
my  brethren,  is  the  fact  of  which  you  must  all  have 
had  experience,  and  such  is  the  explanation  of  that 


36  SERMONS  FOR  THE  YEAR 

fact.  Do  we,  then  after  this  need  any  further 
argument  to  convince  us  of  the  immense  importance, 
the  absolute  necessity  of  prayer  in  the  work  of  our 
salvation? 

II.  In  the  next  place,  let  us  consider  what  is 
prayer.  Prayer  is  the  raising  up  of  the  mind  and 
heart  to  God;  not  of  the  mind  only,  for  it  is  not 
enough  to  think  of  God  merely;  nor  are  theological 
speculations  prayer;  nor  of  the  heart  only,  for  we 
must  know  what  we  are  doing,  when  we  pray;  but  of 
the  mind  and  heart  to  God.  Hence,  prayer,  generally 
speaking,  is  to  enter  into  communication,  to  occupy 
our  thoughts  and  our  affections  with  God.  In  a 
stricter  sense,  it  means  to  address  our  petitions  to 
God,  asking  Him  for  those  things  of  which  we 
stand  in  need.  In  this  sense,  it  is  the  expression  of 
the  utter  dependence  of  the  creature  upon  the  Creator 
which  leads  us  in  all  our  necessities  to  have  recourse 
to  Him  who  is  the  Giver  of  every  good  and  perfect 
gift. 

There  are  two  kinds  of  prayer,  according  to  the 
way  in  which  it  is  made.  There  is  mental  prayer 
and  vocal  prayer.  Mental  prayer  is  made  by  the 
mind  alone,  without  the  utterance  of  the  voice. 
When  we  give  utterance  to  our  prayer  by  the  voice, 
it  is  called  vocal  prayers.  Of  course,  vocal  prayers, 
without  the  attention  of  the  mind  to  what  we  are 
saying,  is  worth  nothing  at  all.  It  is  of  this  kind  of 
prayer  that  our  Lord  speaks  when  He  reproached 
the  Jews:  "This  people  knoweth  me  with  their  lips, 
but  their  heart  is  far  from  me."  (Mark  VII;  16.) 


THIRD  SUNDAY  OF  ADVENT  37 

Mental  prayer  is,  therefore,  of  the  greatest  import- 
ance; for  it  is  by  this  kind  of  prayer  that  we  are  en- 
abled to  fulfil  the  precept  of  the  apostle,  "to  pray 
without  ceasing."  (I  Thess.  V;  17.)  For,  it  is  not 
necessary  that  we  should  go  on  our  knees,  nor  give 
utterance  to  our  prayer;  but  it  is  sufficient,  if  we 
merely  lift  up  our  mind  and  heart  to  God,  in  the 
midst  of  our  daily  occupations,  and  occupy  our 
thoughts  with  Him.  Indeed,  we  may  say  that 
holiness  and  perfection  depend  upon  the  degree  in 
which  the  soul  practices  this  life  of  continual  prayer ; 
seeing  that  prayer  is  the  very  nutriment  of  spiritual 
life;  consequently,  he  will  possess  this  life  more  abun- 
dantly, who  shall  pray  more  frequently  and  fervently. 
Now,  there  is  no  one,  whatever  may  be  his  condition 
of  life,  who  cannot  use  this  means,  and  lead  a  life  of 
continual  prayer.  At  the  same  time,  vocal  prayer, 
at  stated  periods,  should  not  be  omitted,  for  this  is 
a  necessary  part  of  the  virtue  of  religion,  by  which 
we  render  due  homage  to  Almighty  God.  And  it  is 
rendered  in  two  ways;  publicly  and  privately:  pri- 
vately, by  ourselves,  and  publicly,  in  common  with 
others.  With  regard  to  this  latter  kind  of  vocal 
prayer,  our  Lord  has  said  that  it  has  a  special  effi- 
cacy of  its  own.  "Wheresoever  two  or  three  are 
gathered  together  in  my  name,  there  am  I  in  the 
midst  of  them."  (Matt.  XVIII;  20.)  For  we  all 
form  but  one  body  in  Christ;  so  that  when  we  meet 
together  in  the  Church,  and  join  our  prayers  with 
those  of  the  faithful,  these  prayers  ascend  to  the 
throne  of  grace  with  a  power  of  impetration  far 


38  SERMONS  FOR  THE  YEAR 

greater  than  when  they  are  put  forth  privately. 
And  here  let  me  exhort  you  to  remember  this,  when- 
ever public  prayers  are  recited  in  this  Church,  as  for 
example,  the  holy  Rosary,  it  is  the  duty  of  every  one 
in  the  Church  to  join  in  those  prayers  in  an  audible 
voice;  and  those  who,  through  indolence,  or  a  foolish 
timidity,  do  not  recite  the  prayers  aloud,  deprive 
themselves  and  their  fellow-worshippers  of  much 
grace  and  edification. 

I  have  said  nothing  of  the  disposition  with  which 
we  ought  to  pray,  because  this  is  an  important 
subject,  which  would  require  a  much  longer  time 
than  remains  to  me  to  treat  of  it.  But  I  trust 
that  what  I  have  said  will  not  fail  to  move  you  to 
greater  fervour  and  perseverance  in  prayer;  seeing 
that  so  much  depends  on  it;  nothing  less,  in  fact, 
than  our  eternal  salvation.  By  prayer  alone  can  we 
obtain  grace  to  resist  temptation:  "Watch  ye  and 
pray,  that  ye  enter  not  into  temptation."  (Matt. 
XXVI;  61.)  By  prayer  alone  can  we  obtain  those 
effectual  graces  which  are  necessary  for  us  to  work 
out  our  salvation.  "Ask  and  you  shall  receive." 
(John  XVI ;  24. )  God  wishes  our  salvation,  and  He  is 
always  ready  to  give  us  His  abundant  graces,  where- 
by we  may  secure  it;  on  one  condition  only, 
namely,  that  we  should  ask  for  them ;  that  we  should 
pray.  Pray,  then,  and  pray  without  ceasing,  "that 
your  joy  may  be  full;"  the  joy  which  "no  man  shall 
take  from  you."  The  eternal  possession  of  all  good 
in  the  beatific  vision  of  God.  (24;  22.) 


39 
THIRD  SUNDAY  OF  ADVENT 

(Ember  Wednesday  in  Advent.    From  the  Gospel.) 

"Hail,  full  of  grace,  the  Lord  is  with  thee:  blessed 
art  thou  among  women."  (Luke  I ;  28.) 

We  have  now  arrived,  my  dear  brethren,  at  Mid- 
Advent  Sunday,  and,  in  a  few  days,  we  shall  behold 
once  more  the  features  of  our  new-born  Saviour. 
Naturally,  our  thoughts  are,  at  present,  directed 
towards  her  who  was  the  keeper  of  this  heavenly 
secret;  and  who  is  already  devoutly  expecting  the 
birth  of  the  Redeemer  of  the  world.  Moreover,  we 
have  just  been  keeping  that  great  solemnity,  in  which 
we  celebrate  the  Immaculate  Conception,  by  which 
she  was  prepared  for  the  exalted  dignity  to  which 
she  was  predestined.  It  was  the  custom  of  our 
monastic  predecessors,  on  this  day,  in  commenting 
on  the  Gospel,  to  expatiate  on  the  glorious  preroga- 
tives of  the  ever-blessed  Mother  of  God.  Indeed, 
this  homily  was  a  solemn  event  long  looked  forward 
to,  and  long  remembered.  St.  Bernard,  the  great 
master  of  touching  eloquence,  on  this  occasion  was 
wont  to  surpass  himself;  and,  in  the  whole  range  of 
patristic  literature,  there  is  nothing  more  beautiful, 
more  eloquent,  than  his  sermons  on  this  gospel.  Let 
us,  then,  in  humble  and  faithful  imitation  of  the 
piety  of  our  ancestors,  dwell  for  a  few  moments  on 
this  great  mystery,  and  consider  what  took  place 
when  the  angel  Gabriel  made  that  solemn  announce- 
ment to  our  blessed  Lady. 


40  SERMONS  FOR  THE  YEAR 

(I)  That  mystery  is  summed  up  in  the  brief  but 
mysterious  words:  "And  the  Word  was  made  Flesh." 
The  solemnity,  which  we  are  about  to  keep  at  Christ- 
mas, does  not  commemorate  the  Incarnation,  but  the 
birth  of  the  Incarnate  Word,  who  spent  the  first  nine 
months  of  His  earthly  existence  in  the  womb  of  His 
blessed  mother.  By  way,  then,  of  preparation  for 
our  Lord's  birth  at  Christmas,  let  us  dwell  for  a  few 
moments  on  His  Incarnation  at  the  time  of  the  angel 
Gabriel's  annunciation  of  the  good  tidings  to  our 
blessed  Lady.  When,  therefore,  the  time  appointed 
by  the  eternal  decree  of  divine  providence  had  ar- 
rived, an  angel,  not  an  ordinary  one,  but  one  of  the 
seven  that  stand  before  the  throne  of  God,  was 
despatched  to  execute  this  high  commission,  which 
was  nothing  less  than  to  treat  of  the  redemption  of 
the  world  with  a  humble  maiden  of  Nazareth,  and  to 
obtain  her  consent  to  become  the  mother  of  the  Re- 
deemer. When  she  bowed  her  head  in  humble  ac- 
quiescence to  the  demand  which  had  been  made  of 
her,  and  had  pronounced  the  words,  "Behold  the 
hand  maid  of  the  Lord,  be  it  done  to  me  according  to 
thy  word;"  then  the  angel,  his  mission  having  been 
accomplished,  departed.  And,  then  and  there,  took 
place  the  most  stupendous  mystery  which  ever  has 
been,  or  ever  shall  be  accomplished,  the  Incarnation 
of  God  the  Son. 

When  "the  earth  was  without  form  and  void  and 
empty,  and  darkness  was  upon  the  face  of  the  deep, 
and  the  Spirit  of  God  moved  over  the  waters,  it 
brought  forth  order  out  of  chaos,  and  caused  the 


THIRD  SUNDAY  OF  ADVENT  41 

earth  and  air  and  waters  to  become  fruitful,  and  to 
bring  forth  myriads  of  living  creatures."  (Gen.  1 ;  2.) 
This  instantaneous  creation  of  life  and  form  and 
order  is  a  stupendous  work;  but,  after  all,  it  is  as 
nothing  compared  with  the  mysterious  brooding 
of  the  Holy  Spirit  over  the  Immaculate  Virgin,  fash- 
ioning in  her  womb,  and  of  her  most  pure  substance 
a  body  for  the  Incarnate  Word,  and  endowing  that 
body  with  a  human  soul;  which  Soul  and  Body,  in 
the  very  instant  of  their  creation,  became  the  temple 
of  God  the  Son,  in  which  He  corporally  dwells,  be- 
coming thereby  Flesh  of  our  flesh,  and  Bone  of  our 
bone.  This  is,  indeed,  the  masterpiece  of  the  divine 
Omnipotence.  The  eternal  Father  sends  His  only- 
begotten  Son  into  the  world  to  become  the  Son  of 
Mary;  and  God  the  Holy  Ghost,  by  His  wonder- 
working power,  forms  and  fashions  that  sacred 
humanity  which  is  henceforth  inseparably  united 
to  the  Person  of  God  the  Son.  And  all  this  is  ac- 
complished in  the  virginal  womb  of  Mary,  with  no 
other  conscious  witness  of  the  mystery  but  the  Three 
Persons  of  the  Adorable  Trinity  and  the  Virgin  her- 
self. 

(II)  And  now  let  us  consider  what  these  words 
mean:  "The  Word  was  made  Flesh."  From  this 
moment  God  becomes  Man,  and  man  becomes  God. 
He  has  not  taken  "hold  of  the  angels"  (Hebr.  11;16), 
cries  out  the  apostle  in  ecstacy.  Although  the  angels 
were  by  nature  far  more  superior  to  man;  for  their 
nature  is  purely  spiritual,  and  not  associated  with 
any  corporal  element,  which,  had  it  not  been  for  the 


42  SERMONS  FOR  THE  YEAR 

Incarnation,  we  should,  no  doubt,  have  thought 
could  not  possibly  be  associated  with  the  divine 
nature.  Hence,  we  ought  to  conclude,  with  the 
apostle  of  St.  John,  how  great  is  the  love  which  God 
bears  towards  us,  inasmuch  as,  in  order  to  testify 
His  love  for  us,  He  has  abased  himself  so  much  as  to 
assume  our  poor  wretched  nature  with  all  its  miseries. 
Passing  by,  then,  the  angelic  nature,  so  far  superior 
to  ours,  He  has  laid  hold  of  the  seed  of  Abraham, 
and  became  Man,  being  made  like  unto  us  in  all 
things,  except  only  sin.  From  this  moment,  the 
ancient  curse  is  removed;  the  sentence  of  death  is 
revoked;  the  gates  of  Paradise  are  re-opened;  the 
race  of  Adam  is  redeemed.  Man  has  found  a  Saviour 
God,  a  victim  of  propitiation,  in  whom  He  must  needs 
be  well  pleased.  (Matt.  XVII;  5.)  From  this 
moment,  a  sacrifice  of  praise  and  thanksgiving  is  per- 
petually ascending  to  the  throne  of  the  most  High, 
worthy  of  Him;  whilst  all  our  defects  and  shortcom- 
ings and  weaknesses  are  more  than  sufficiently 
atoned  for  and  supplied  by  the  perfect  oblation  of 
Himself  on  the  part  of  God  made  Man,  Christ  Jesus. 
Hence,  the  angel  declared  that  He  should  be  called 
the  Son  of  the  Most  High.  The  name  which  He  re- 
ceived is  a  name  above  all  names,  at  which  every 
knee  shall  bow  of  those  in  heaven,  of  those  on  earth 
and  of  those  that  are  under  the  earth.  Foi  He  is 
constituted  Lord  of  all  things,  to  whom  all  things 
are  subject.  He  is  the  first  begotten  of  many 
brethren,  the  representative  of  the  whole  human 
race,  in  whom  the  whole  human  race  is,  as  it  were, 


THIRD  SUNDAY  OF  ADVENT.  43 

summed  up.  Consequently,  He  possessed  all  power 
in  heaven  and  on  earth.  He  is  made  Mediator  be- 
tween God  and  mankind;  between  His  Father  and 
His  brethren. 

The  angel  continues:  "Thou  shalt  call  His  name, 
Jesus;  for  He  shall  save  the  people  from  their  sins." 
The  long-looked  for  Messias  has  come  at  last.  He 
whom  the  patriarchs  desired  so  much  to  see;  whom 
prophets  foretold;  whom  chosen  servants  of  God 
foreshadowed  in  their  mystical  career.  He  is  now 
incarnate  in  Mary's  womb.  The  long  expectation 
of  ages  is  fulfilled.  "He  shall  have  given  unto  Him 
the  throne  of  David,  His  father;"  that  heavenly 
throne  of  which  David's  has  but  a  figure,  and  of 
which  David  himself  spoke,  when  he  said:  "The 
Lord  said  to  my  Lord :  'Sit  Thou  at  my  right  hand, 
until  I  make  thy  enemies  Thy  footstool,' "  (Ps. 
CIX;  1.)  "And  He  shall  reign  in  the  home  of 
Jacob;"  that  is,  over  the  true  Israelites,  over  those 
who  are  the  inheritors  of  the  faith  of  Abraham. 
Let  us  not  forget  this,  my  brethren,  that  our  divine 
Lord  is  our  King  as  well  as  our  Redeemer;  that  to 
Him  alone  we  owe  supreme  allegiance;  and  that  to 
save  any  other  to  the  exclusion  of  Him,  would  be  an 
act  of  the  greatest  perfidy.  The  Jews,  in  their  mad- 
ness, cried  out:  "We  have  no  King  but  Caesar." 
(John  XIX;  15.)  Let  us,  on  the  other  hand,  cry 
out:  Our  King  is  Jesus  Christ,  His  sway  extends 
over  all  Kingdoms  and  tribes  and  peoples  and  tongues  ; 
over  all  who  will  receive  Him  and  acknowledge 
His  dominion.  "For  as  many  as  received  Him,  He 


14  SERMONS  FOR  THE  YEAR 

gave  them  power  to  be  made  the  Sons  of  God." 
(John  I;  12.) 

"And  of  his  reign  there  shall  be  no  end."  Other 
monarchs  may  lord  it  over  their  subjects,  and  think 
themselves  exalted  to  the  stars.  But  their  crowns 
shall  fade;  their  thrones  decay;  and  their  sceptres 
shall  fall  from  their  powerless  grasp ;  whilst  the  Lord 
Jesus  shall  reign  forever  and  ever.  His  crown  is  a 
never-fading  one;  His  throne  imperishable;  and  His 
sceptre  eternal  as  the  Omnipotence  which  wields  it. 

(Ill)  In  the  third  place,  whilst  this  stupendous 
mystery  is  being  wrought,  what  shall  we  say  of  the 
humble  maiden  in  whom  it  is  being  accomplished? 
Amongst  the  daughters  of  Israel;  nay,  amongst  the 
daughters  of  men,  nowhere  was  there  to  be  found  one 
more  lowly  in  her  own  estimation  than  this  humble 
Virgin.  The  poorest  and  the  last  of  the  poorest  and 
most  contemptible  village  in  Galilee.  She  who 
called  herself  the  handmaiden  of  the  Lord  is  now 
become  His  mother;  so  that  her  cousin  St.  Elizabeth 
was  constrained  to  exclaim,  "Whence  is  this  to  me 
that  the  mother  of  my  Lord  should  come  to  me?" 
(Luke  I;  43).  And  so,  too,  let  us,  my  dear  brethren, 
welcome  the  mother  of  God  with  her  divine  Babe. 
Let  us  make  a  home  for  them  in  our  breasts,  and  not 
drive  them  from  us,  like  the  inhospitable  Bethlehe- 
mites,  when  the  holy  pair  sought  shelter  from  the 
inclemency  of  that  winter's  night.  Let  our  hearts 
be  adorned  for  those  illustrious  guests  in  a  fitting 
manner;  our  conscience  purified  from  sin  by  humble 
confession;  enlightened  by  faith  in  these  adorable 


THIRD  SUNDAY  OF  ADVENT  45 

mysteries;  strengthened  by  hope  in  His  coming;  fer- 
vent with  charity;  radiant  with  purity;  chastened 
by  humility;  and  beautified  by  spiritual  joy,  peace 
and  fraternal  charity.  Thus  may  we  hope  that  Jesus, 
Mary  and  Joseph  may  be  our  guests  at  the  approach- 
ing festival,  and  fill  us  with  their  heavenly  benedic- 
tion. 


THIRD  SUNDAY  OF  ADVENT. 

(Ember  Friday  in  Advent.    From  the  Gospel.) 

"Whence  is  this  to  me  that  the  Mother  of  my 
should  come  to  me."     (Luke  I;  43.) 

During  the  nine  months  which  elapsed  between 
the  Annunciation  of  our  blessed  Lady  and  the  birth 
of  our  Lord,  which  we  are  preparing  to  celebrate, 
there  are  but  two  incidents  recorded  in  the  holy 
gospels;  namely,  the  revelation  which  was  made  to 
St.  Joseph  of  the  Incarnation  of  God  the  Son,  and 
the  visit  which  our  Lady  paid  to  her  cousin,  St. 
Elizabeth.  It  is  this  latter  incident  which  forms 
the  subject  of  our  consideration  at  present.  Let  us 
then  consider  (I)  the  motives  which  our  Lady  had 
for  making  this  visit;  (II)  the  virtues  she  exercised 
in  making  it. 

(I.)  1.  Her  first  motive  was  obedience  to  the 
divine  inspiration.  She  was  inwardly  persuaded 
that  it  was  God's  Will  that  she  should  go;  and  she 
went.  She  did  not  go  out  of  incredulity  or  curiosity, 
to  see  whether  the  Angel's  words  were  true  or  not; 


46  SERMONS  FOR  THE  YEAR 

she  did  not  go  out  of  vanity,  in  order  to  make  known 
the  mystery  which  had  been  wrought  in  her;  for  she 
concealed  that  even  from  her  spouse.  But  she  went 
to  fulfill  the  divine  Will,  which  was  that  our  Lord's 
precursor  might  be  sanctified  even  in  his  mother's 
womb,  from  which  we  are  to  learn  that  our  visits 
should  be  prompted,  not  by  curiosity,  nor  vain-glory, 
but  by  the  desire  of  promoting  the  edification  and 
sanctification  of  our  neighbour,  and  our  own  spiritual 
good.  How  often  have  we  not,  on  the  contrary,  by 
our  dissipation  of  mind  and  resistance  to  grace, 
thwarted  the  designs  of  divine  Providence,  calling 
us  to  undertake  these  visits  of  charity  and  piety,  and 
thereby  deprived  our  neighbours  and  ourselves  of  the 
spiritual  advantages  we  should  otherwise  have 
gained. 

(2.)  The  second  motive  was  friendship.  Friend- 
ship is  a  holy  relation  sanctified  by  divine  grace; 
and  where  it  exists  in  this  supernatural  form,  it 
conduces  very  much  to  the  spiritual  progress  of 
those  who  are  united  in  the  bonds  of  spiritual  friend- 
ship. But  this  is  a  very  different  thing  from  the 
friendship  of  the  world.  That  kind  of  friendship, 
being  purely  natural,  is  subject  to  all  the  infirmities 
of  our  corrupt  nature;  the  motive  may  be  impure, 
its  object  selfish;  and  consequently,  so  far  from 
promoting  our  spiritual  good,  is  rather  a  hindrance 
to  piety,  and  is  the  cause  of  many  falling  away  from 
their  former  fervour,  and  from  the  practice  of  their 
religious  duties.  No  friendship  is  so  firm,  so  endur- 
ing, so  consoling  as  that  which  exists  between  de- 


THIRD  SUNDAY  OF  ADVENT         47 

vout  souls,  such  as  were  Mary  and  Elizabeth;  a 
friendship  which  is  founded  upon  virtue,  is  cemented 
by  grace,  and  is  perfected  by  divine  charity.  Let 
us  examine  of  what  kind  our  friendships  are,  whether 
they  are  of  this  supernatural  kind,  or  merely  natural, 
and  such  as  tend  to  minister  to  the  propensities  of 
our  corrupt  nature. 

(3. )  Our  blessed  Lady's  third  motive  was  charity. 
She  understood  from  the  angel  that  her  cousin  was 
in  a  condition  which  required  her  kind  attentions 
and  services;  and  she  immediately  responded  to  the 
call  of  charity.  Hitherto,  she  had  kept  herself 
within  the  limits  of  her  own  humble  home,  retired 
from  the  world,  and  far  removed  from  its  distracting 
business  and  conversation;  in  order  that  she  might 
give  herself  up  to  prayer  and  contemplation,  and 
might  conceal  herself  from  the  observation  of  others. 
Do  we,  like  her,  love  retirement  and  solitude;  and 
do  we,  like  her,  only  emerge  from  it  when  charity 
calls  us  forth?  And  are  we  as  ready  and  as  anxious 
to  return  to  our  beloved  solitude  as  soon  as  those 
claims  of  charity  are  satisfied?  When,  therefore, 
charity  urged  her  to  go  forth,  she  did  not  hesitate 
to  sacrifice  that  sweet  retirement,  those  silent  inter- 
communings  with  God.  Even  her  humility  must 
give  way  to  charity,  which  is  the  fulfillment  of  the 
law  and  the  bond  of  perfection.  Here,  again,  let  us 
reflect  on  our  own  motives  for  the  visits  we  make; 
whether  they  are  made  out  of  true  charity,  and  not 
rather  out  of  vain-glory,  or  love  of  dissipation;  from 


48  SERMONS  FOR  THE  YEAR 

a  desire  of  seeing  and  being  seen ;  in  order  to  gratify 
our  curiosity,  our  pride,  our  self-esteem. 

II.  Let  us  in  the  second  place  consider  the  vir- 
tues which  our  Lady  exercised  in  this  visit;  and  (1) 
first,  her  humility.  Mary  was  now  the  Mother  of 
God.  She  carried  in  her  womb  the  Incarnate  Word. 
Might  she  not  have  plausibly  argued  that  it  was 
not  becoming  that  she  should  go  out  of  her  way  to 
greet  Elizabeth,  who,  though  she  was  her  cousin, 
was  still  but  the  mother  of  Him  who  had  to  prepare 
the  way  for  Mary's  Son?  Was  it  seemly  that  the 
great  King  should  be  the  first  to  visit  His  own 
precursor?  Might  she  not  have  thought;  even 
though  I  may  compromise  my  own  dignity,  is  it 
right  for  me  to  prejudice  my  Son,  by  taking  Him  to 
visit  His  own  creature?  Is  this  not  the  way  in 
which  we  argue,  my  brethren?  Are  we  not  always 
inventing  some  pretext  or  other  to  excuse  our  pride, 
our  self-complacency,  our  estimation  of  ourselves 
above  others?  Instead  of  seeking,  as  we  ought  to 
do,  to  humble  ourselves  on  all  occasions,  and  to 
deem  ourselves  inferior  to  every  one  else,  are  we  not 
fretful  and  impatient  when  what  we  deem  proper 
respect  is  not  paid  to  us?  Do  we  not  strive  by  every 
means  in  our  power,  to  render  ourselves  important ; 
and  to  display  our  fancied  superiority  over  others? 

(2)  Next,  let  us  consider  our  Lady's  fortitude. 
The  journey  she  undertook  was  long  and  arduous, 
especially  in  her  condition;  whilst  her  habits  were 
such  as  to  render  such  a  journey  ten  times  more 
difficult  to  her  than  it  would  be  to  one  accustomed 


THIRD  SUNDAY  OF  ADVENT      49 

to  traverse  the  world.  But  no  difficulty,  no  danger, 
no  fatigue,  no  hardship  could  hinder  her  from  com- 
plying with  the  call  of  charity.  Is  this  the  way  in 
which  we  act,  or  is  not  our  conduct  the  very  reverse? 
Do  we  not  allow  any  paltry  excuse  to  detain  us  from 
complying  with  some  precept  or  some  duty  which  is 
irksome  to  us?  To  gratify  our  own  inclinations,  we 
are  ready  to  undergo  any  labour  or  fatigue.  How 
often  do  we  find  instances  of  persons  who  will  sub- 
mit to  the  greatest  inconveniences  in  order  to  com- 
ply with  this  world's  fashions  and  follies,  in  the  pur- 
suit of  pleasure,  and  their  own  gratification,  who  will 
not  undergo  the  slightest  inconvenience  when  it  is 
a  question  of  fulfilling  a  precept,  such  as  that  of 
hearing  Mass  on  Sunday  or  meeting  ,the  demands 
of  the  law  of  charity?  Others,  again,  will  go  out 
of  their  way  to  oblige  one  who  is  pleasing  to  them; 
whilst,  when  any  work  of  true,  disinterested  charity 
is  proposed  to  them,  they  allow  themselves  to  be 
overcome  by  any  difficulty  or  obstacle. 

(3)  Thirdly,  her  diligence.  The  Scripture  tells 
us  that  Mary  went  'with  haste.'  She  lost  no  time;  at 
once,  she  followed  the  inspiration  to  go  when  God 
called  her;  and  she  turned  not  aside  from  her  path  to 
the  right  hand  nor  to  the  left.  She  did  not  loiter 
by  the  way;  nor  did  she  rest  until  she  had  reached  her 
destination.  In  this,  our  blessed  L,ady  has  left  us 
an  example  how  we  should  discharge  our  duties;  not 
negligently  and  tardily,  but  carefully  and  with  dili- 
gence ;  for  it  is  written :  "Cursed  be  he  that  doth  the 
work  of  the  Lord  deceitfully."  (Jerem.  XLVIII; 


50  SERMONS  FOR  THE  YEAR 

10.)  Sloth  is  one  of  the  seven  deadly  sins;  and  it  is 
the  cause  of  the  ruin  of  numberless  souls.  It  is  the 
cause  of  the  ruin  of  those  who,  knowing  what 
their  duty  is,  neglect  to  perform  it ;  putting  off  their 
conversion  from  day  to  day,  saying,  there  is  time  yet : 
I  hope  some  day  to  make  a  change.  That  day,  my 
dear  brethren,  seldom  or  never  comes  to  such  as  these. 
It  is  the  cause  of  the  ruin  of  those  who,  having  begun 
to  return  to  God,  to  their  Father's  home,  from  the 
far-off  country  of  sin  in  which  they  have  wandered, 
yet  loiter  by  the  way;  and  allow  themselves  to  be 
distracted  and  detained  by  the  objects  which  present 
themselves  to  them  on  the  road.  Such  as  these  are 
not  likely  ever  to  reach  the  goal  for  which  they  are 
making.  "No  man,  putting  his  hand  to  the  plough, 
and  looking  back,  is  fit  for  the  Kingdom  of  God." 
(Luke  IX;  62.)  We  must  ever,  like  the  apostle  St. 
Paul,  forgetting  the  things  that  are  behind,  stretch 
forward  eagerly  to  those  that  are  before  if  we  are 
ever  to  reach  the  wished-for  goal,  and  attain  the 
coveted  prize. 

We  have  considered,  my  dear  brethren,  the  motives 
which  led  our  blessed  I/ady  to  visit  her  cousin;  name- 
ly, her  obedience  to  the  divine  inspiration,  her 
friendship  and  her  charity.  We  have  considered  also 
the  virtues  which  she  exercised  in  making  that  visit ; 
namely,  her  humility,  her  fortitude  and  her  diligence. 
We  will  not  follow  her  now  into  Elizabeth's  home; 
but  we  will  be  content  to  ponder  on  the  lesson  she 
teaches  us  by  her  beautiful  example,  so  that  our 
visits  may  be  inspired  by  the  same  motives,  and  regu- 


FOURTH  SUNDAY  OF  ADVENT    51 

lated  by  the  practice  of  the  same  virtues,  in  our  inter- 
course with  each  other;  that  our  visits  may  be  blessed 
as  Mary's  was;  that  they  may  conduce  to  our  own 
sanctifications  and  our  neighbours'  edification;  that 
we  may  be  able  to  say  in  all  our  visits,  "My  soul  doth 
magnify  the  Lord;  and  my  spirit  hath  rejoiced  in 
God  my  Saviour." 


FOURTH  SUNDAY  OF  ADVENT. 

(From  the  Gospel.) 

11  And  all  flesh  shall  see  the  salvation  of  God."  (Luke 
III;  6.) 

We  have  now  reached,  my  dear  brethren,  the 
fourth  Sunday  of  Advent,  and  we  may  well  say  with 
the  Church  at  this  solemn  season:  "The  Lord  is  nigh, 
come  let  us  adore  Him."  But  if  we  would  adore 
Him  in  the  proper  spirit,  we  must  approach  Him  in 
the  proper  spirit;  with  hearts  purified  from  sin  and 
attachment  to  sin;  that  our  Lord,  when  He  comes, 
may  find  nothing  in  us  that  can  offend  His  infinite 
purity  and  holiness.  This  is  why  the  Church,  with 
her  supernatural  wisdom,  has  appointed  a  time  of 
preparation,  during  which  we  may,  by  prayer  and 
penitential  works  and  self-examination,  prepare  the 
way  of  the  Lord  in  our  hearts  in  which  He  would  fain 
set  up  His  Kingdom.  Accordingly,  during  the  last 
three  Sundays,  the  Church  has  read  to  us,  from  the 
Holy  Gospels,  the  narrative  of  St.  John,  the  Baptist's 
mission;  how  he  was  sent  as  an  angel  to  preach  the 
baptism  of  penance  unto  the  remission  of  sins,  and 


52  SERMONS  FOR  THE  YEAR 

to  prepare  for  the  Lord  a  perfect  people,  who  should 
be  baptized,  not  with  water  only,  but  with  fire  and 
the  Holy  Ghost.  Let  us  then  go  forth  into  the  desert 
where  John  is  preaching  and  baptizing;  let  us  listen 
to  his  (preaching,  and  submit  to  his  baptism  of 
penance.  (16.) 

For,  unless  we  do  this,  that  is,  go  forth  from  the 
world  into  the  desert,  unless  we  make  the  service  of 
the  world  subordinate  to  the  service  of  God,  so  that 
it  may  be  truly  said  of  us,  as  of  our  blessed  Lord,  that 
in  us  the  prince  of  this  world  hath  not  anything: 
(John  XIV;  30)  it  is  vain  to  hope  that  we  shall  listen 
to  the  preaching  of  the  precursor;  vain  to  hope  that 
we  shall  bring  forth  worthy  fruits  of  penance  unto 
the  remission  of  sins.  Having  then  taken  this  first 
and  all  important  step,  let  us  consider,  (for  then 
alone  are  we  fit  to  consider)  the  subject  of  the  preach- 
ing which  the  precursor  addresses  to  us.  "Prepare 
ye  the  way  of  the  Lord;  make  straight  His  paths. 
Every  valley  shall  be  filled,  and  every  mountain  and 
hill  shall  be  brought  low;  and  the  crooked  shall  be 
made  straight ;  and  the  rough  ways  plain."  Here,  as 
in  so  many  other  passages  of  Holy  Writ,  the  most 
important  moral  truths  are  conveyed  to  us  in  figura- 
tive language.  But  the  figures  used  are  so  obvious 
and  intelligible,  that  no  one  can  fail  to  understand 
their  application. 

In  that  period  of  the  world  and  amongst  those 
nations,  it  was  customary,  when  a  prince  was  making 
a  royal  progress  through  his  dominions,  to  despatch 
forerunners  before  him,  whose  office  it  was  literally 


FOURTH  SUNDAY  OF  ADVENT    53 

to  fill  up  the  hollow  places,  and  level  the  obstruc- 
tions, and  so  prepare  a  road  for  him.  Now  this 
Prince  is  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ;  and  He  is  about  to 
make  a  royal  progress  through  His  dominions  which 
are  the  hearts  of  His  faithful  servants.  And,  to  this 
end,  He  would  have  us  prepare  the  way  before  Him; 
that  that  desire  of  His  may  be  fulfilled:  "Behold,  I 
stand  at  the  gate  and  knock;  if  any  man  shall  hear 
my  voice,  and  open  to  me  the  door,  I  will  come  into 
him,  and  will  sup  with  him,  and  he  with  me."  (Apoc. 
Ill;  20.)  To  enjoy  this  experience,  all  that  is  re- 
quired is  that  we  should  remove  those  obstacles 
which  hinder  our  Lord's  entrance.  Let  us  consider 
these  obstacles. 

I.  'Every  valley  must  be  filled.'  By  the  valleys 
are  signified  the  gaps  and  omissions  in  our  daily  lives. 
What  is  this  life  of  man?  It  is  not  measured  by 
hours  and  moments,  but  by  his  acts,  the  thoughts  of 
his  heart,  and  the  works  of  his  hands;  these  are  the 
stuff  of  which  life  is  made  up ;  these  are  the  prices  of 
eternity;  with  these  we  shall  stand  before  our  Judge; 
for  these  we  shall  have  to  answer.  Now,  of  all  our 
works  some  are  good,  some  bad,  and  some  indifferent. 
As  to  our  bad  actions,  the  wages  of  them  is  death; 
(Rom.  VI;  23)  whilst  those  that  are  good  will  obtain 
a  recompense;  and  if  performed  in  God's  grace,  and 
from  a  supernatural  motive,  will  merit  for  us  an 
eternal  reward;  and  these  alone  are  the  works  of 
which  a  Christian's  life  should  be  made  up.  For 
what  other  end  can  a  Christian  have  in  view,  in  all 
his  actions,  but  the  end  for  which  alone  he  was  created, 


54  SERMONS  FOR  THE  YEAR 

the  obtaining  of  his  final  happiness  in  God  ?  Setting 
aside,  therefore,  works  which  are  positively  sinful, 
and  those  which  are  supernaturally  good,  there  re- 
main all  those  works  which  are  neither  one  nor  the 
other.  And  let  each  one  examine  himself,  whether 
his  life  is  not  almost  wholly  made  up  of  such  works ; 
whether  he  is  not  squandering  the  precious  time 
which  God  gave  him,  upon  indifferent  ends.  For, 
surely,  it  is  squandering  time  to  do  anything  whatso- 
ever for  any  other  end,  but  to  glorify  God  and  save 
our  own  souls.  "Whether  you  eat  or  drink,  or  what- 
soever else  you  do,  do  all  to  the  glory  of  God."  (I 
Cor.  X;  31.)  How  many  are  there  who  will  barely 
devote  a  short  time  on  Sunday,  (and  that  not  so 
much  out  of  devotion  as  to  avoid  mortal  sin),  to  the 
service  of  God,  whilst  all  the  rest  of  the  week,  from 
Sunday  to  Sunday,  what  is  it  but  a  huge  valley,  un- 
broken by  a  single  supernatural  act;  a  bottomless 
abyss,  whose  depths  are  impenetrable  to  our  eyes, 
but  which  God  will  one  day  light  up  and  reveal  with 
the  light  of  His  searching  judgment. 

II.  'Every  mountain  and  hill  shall  be  brought 
low.'  Here  we  have  to  consider,  besides  our  sins  of 
omission,  those  great  obstacles  which  pride  creates 
in  our  hearts.  Pride  is  the  great  enemy  of  God,  and 
the  great  obstacle  to  sanctification.  It  is  the  fruitful 
source  of  all  other  sins,  of  all  the  infidelity,  irreligion 
and  immortality  which  make  havoc  amongst  the  souls 
of  men.  Pride  is  the  first  vice  which  we  should  at- 
tack hi  ourselves;  it  is  the  last  which  is  ever  van- 
quished. Other  vices,  such  as  impurity,  intemper- 


FOURTH  SUNDAY  OF  ADVENT    55 

ance,  malice,  can  only  live  and  thrive  in  the  corrupt 
soil  of  actions,  themselves  shameful  and  corrupt. 
But  pride  can  feed  upon,  nay,  flourish  upon  our  very 
best  actions;  and,  therefore,  it  is  a  most  insidious 
enemy,  and  much  to  be  feared  by  all.  Let  us  ex- 
amine ourselves,  therefore,  also  on  this  point :  whether 
this  odious  vice  displays  itself  in  our  thoughts,  our 
feelings,  our  conduct  towards  others,  or  in  the  secret 
recesses  of  our  own  soul.  For,  if  we  allow  this  vice 
to  take  possession  of  us,  and  to  rule  our  conduct, 
whether  it  be  a  mountain  or  a  little  hill,  we  shall  not 
be  fit  to  welcome  our  divine  Lord.  Indeed,  there  is 
a  special  feature  in  our  Lord's  coming  at  Christmas 
which  shows  us  how  utterly  opposed  is  His  Spirit  to 
the  spirit  of  pride.  He  comes  as  a  little  babe;  the 
eternal  Wisdom  of  God,  by  whom  all  things  were 
made;  He,  who  is  Omnipotence  itself,  comes  to  us 
as  a  helpless  infant,  shut  up  in  the  limits  of  a  human 
soul,  and  in  the  limbs  of  a  weak  child.  He  who  spake 
and  all  things  were  made — His  utterances  are  the 
unmeaning  babblings,  the  weak  lispings,  the  plain- 
tive cries  of  helpless  infancy.  What  a  spectacle  for 
our  pride!  Why  is  earth  and  ashes  proud?  (Eccle. 
X;  9.)  Surely,  my  brethren,  did  we  but  reflect  on 
this,  we  should  not  want  for  motives  of  humbling 
ourselves.  What  can  be  more  unreasonable  than 
our  own  senseless,  impious,  blasphemous  pride, 
whereby  we  deem  ourselves  to  be  something,  whereas 
we  are  nothing.  Away,  then,  with  this  huge  moun- 
tain; and  with  every  height  that  exalteth  itself 
against  God;  and  let  us  welcome  our  infant  Saviour 


56  SERMONS  FOR  THE  YEAR 

as  infants — infants  in  heart  and  mind,  without  guile 
or  malice;  for  of  such  alone  is  the  Kingdom  of  God. 
III.  'And  the  crooked  shall  be  made  straight.' 
When  the  valleys  have  been  filled  up,  and  the  hills 
laid  low,  we  have  yet  to  straighten  the  crooked  ways. 
By  this  is  meant  the  way  of  one  who  has  not  a  pure 
intention  in  all  his  actions;  of  one  whose  eye  is  not 
single;  who  would  like  to  appear  just  before  men,  but 
inwardly  seeks  himself  and  his  own  ends.  (Math. 
VI;  22.)  There  are  many  such — many  who  come 
to  the  Church  and  receive  the  Sacraments,  and  yet 
pursue  a  crooked  path;  who  will  not  renounce  this  or 
that  occasion  of  Sin;  who  love  the  danger,  though 
they  do  not  wish  to  perish  in  it;  who  try  to  make 
peace  with  their  conscience,  whereas  there  is  no  peace ; 
because  their  confusions  have  not  been  sincere,  their 
repentance  not  genuine,  their  purpose  of  amendment 
weak  or  none  at  all.  This  is,  then,  another  point  on 
which  we  should  examine  ourselves.  Let  us  search 
well  the  recesses  of  our  conscience,  and  make  straight 
their  crooked  ways.  Let  us  serve  God  with  sim- 
plicity and  singleness  of  purpose,  and  with  purity  of 
intention,  and  never  allow  ourselves  to  be  turned 
aside  from  the  path  of  rectitude  by  selfish,  corrupt 
or  human  motives.  Let  our  inward  thoughts  cor- 
respond to  our  outward  actions;  for  "God  searcheth 
the  heart  and  the  veins."  (Ps.  VII;  10.)  He  has 
said,  "I  hate  arrogance  and  pride,  and  every  wicked 
way,  and  a  mouth  with  a  double  tongue.  (Prov. 
VIII ;  13.)  Again,  "Woe  to  them  that  are  of  a  double 
heart,  and  to  the  sinner  that  goeth  on  the  earth  two 


FOURTH  SUNDAY  OF  ADVENT    57 

ways.  Woe  to  them  that  have  lost  patience,  and 
that  have  forsaken  the  right  ways,  and  have  gone 
aside  into  crooked  ways."  (Eccle.  II;  14,  16.) 
Once  more,  let  us  imitate  our  infant  Saviour  in  sim- 
plicity and  candor;  and  become  as  little  children; 
that  we  may  prepare  the  way  for  our  Lord  to  estab- 
lish His  Kingdom  in  our  hearts. 

IV.  "And  the  rough  ways  plain."  One  more 
obstacle  remains,  the  roughness  of  our  ways.  By 
which  are  meant  the  irregularities  of  our  conduct, 
caused  by  giving  way  to  every  momentary  caprice 
of  humor,  or  impulse  of  passion.  These  are  un- 
worthy of  a  Christian,  who  ought  to  be  able  to  say 
with  the  Psalmist:  "My  soul  is  continually  in  my 
hands."  (Ps.  CXVIII;  109.)  We  should  cultivate 
that  habitual  self-control  and  recollection  of  spirit, 
which  may  enable  us  to  check  the  impulse  of  passion ; 
and  rule  all  our  actions  by  the  dictates  of  reason 
enlightened  by  divine  grace.  "Let  thy  eyes  look 
straight  on;  and  let  thy  eyelids  go  before  thy  steps." 
(Prov.  IV;  25.) 

Such,  my  brethren,  is  the  work  which  every  Christ- 
ian must  undertake,  to  prepare  himself  for  the  King- 
dom of  God.  And  such  especially  is  our  work  at 
this  time  in  order  to  prepare  for  our  Lord's  coming. 
Those  only  who  courageously  and  perseveringly 
apply  themselves  to  removing  the  obstacles  in  their 
hearts  to  divine  grace  can  hope  for  a  happy  Christ- 
mas ;  where  happiness  shall  consist  in  seeing  the  Sal- 
vation of  God;  that  when  our  Lord  comes,  we  may 
say  with  holy  Simeon:  "Now  thou  dost  dismiss  Thy 


58  SERMONS  FOR  THE  YEAR 

servant,  O  Lord,  according  to  Thy  word,  in  peace; 
because  mine  eyes  have  seen  Thy  salvation." 
(Luke  II;  29,  30.) 


FOURTH  SUNDAY  OF  ADVENT. 

(Another  Sermon.    Abridged  from  Bourdaloue.) 

"He  came  into  all  the  country — preaching  the  bap- 
tism of  penance,  for  the  remission  of  sins."  (Luke 
HI;  3.) 

We,  my  dear  brethren,  are  doing  what  St.  John 
the  Baptist  did.  We  are  preparing  the  way  of  our 
Lord;  who,  in  a  very  few  days,  will  come  amongst 
us;  and  then,  all  flesh  shall  see  the  salvation  of  God. 
If,  then,  we  have  not  yet  made  adequate  preparation, 
there  is  no  time  to  be  lost.  And  we  must  set  about 
it  at  once;  but  how?  There  is  no  other  way  but 
that  which  St.  John  has  taught  us;  preaching  the 
baptism  of  penance  for  the  remission  of  sins.  For 
without  the  remission  of  sins  we  cannot  profit  by 
our  Lord's  coming;  nor  partake  of  the  redemption 
which  He  came  to  purchase  for  us;  whilst  the  re- 
mission of  sins  can  only  be  obtained  through  pen- 
ance, which  is,  therefore,  rightly  called  a  second 
baptism.  I  propose,  then,  my  dear  brethren,  to 
consider  the  subject  of  penance;  and  firstly,  the  ne- 
cessity of  strict  and  severe  penance  on  our  part, 
that  it  should  be  a  reality  and  not  a  mere  sham; 
and,  secondly,  that  this  penance  in  proportion  as  it 
is  strict  and  severe,  becomes  lighter  to  bear  and 
even  sweet  and  attractive. 


FOURTH  SUNDAY  OF  ADVENT    59 

I.  That  the  penance  we  do  should  be  strict  and 
severe,  is  evident  from  the  fact  that  it  is,  in  reality, 
the  sentence  of  judgment  pronounced  by  the  sinner 
on  himself  in  punishment  of  his  sins.  In  pronounc- 
ing this  sentence,  he,  as  it  were,  holds  the  place  of 
God  himself,  the  Supreme  Judge  of  all  our  actions. 
He  pronounces  sentence  upon  himself,  and  not  upon 
another;  he  pronounces  a  sentence  which  is  subject 
to  an  appeal  to  a  higher  court;  which  is  no  other 
than  the  tribunal  of  the  all-just  Judge.  All  these 
considerations,  my  dear  brethren,  furnish  cogent 
reasons  why  we  should  judge  ourselves  with  the  ut- 
most severity  in  inflicting  penance  upon  ourselves. 

(1)  First,  then,  the  sinner  who  does  penance, 
acts  as  the  representative  of  God;  he  is  God's  min- 
ister to  defend  the  divine  interests;  to  avenge  the 
outrages  done  to  the  divine  Majesty;  to  appease  the 
divine  indignation  excited  by  our  offences.  Now, 
how  can  any  one  rightly  fulfill  functions  such  as 
these,  by  a  merely  nominal  penance,  which  is  wholly 
unworthy  of  the  name?  To  do  penance  is  an  act  of 
justice;  and,  if  justice  has  any  meaning  at  all,  it 
surely  implies  that  there  must  be  some  proportion 
between  the  offences  committed  and  the  reparation 
made;  that  the  reparation  should  be  as  real  as  was 
the  office.  How  grateful  ought  we  to  be  that  God 
permits  us  to  exercise  this  prerogative  of  His;  that 
He  has  graciously  consented  to  exempt  us  from  His 
own  judgment,  on  condition  that  we  judge  ourselves. 
For,  says  St.  Paul,  "If  we  should  judge  ourselves, 
we  would  not  be  judged."  (I  Cor.  XI;  31.)  But, 


60  SERMONS  FOR  THE  YEAR 

at  the  same  time,  let  us  beware  lest  we  abuse  this 
grace  and  privilege,  by  such  light  and  trivial  penance, 
as  seems  to  make  a  mockery  of  the  divine  Justice. 
If,  for  example,  when  we  present  ourselves  at  the 
sacred  tribunal,  we  dissimulate  our  faults;  if  we 
qualify  our  sins,  softening  down  these  and  disguising 
those,  giving  to  this  one  the  appearance  of  an  up- 
right intention  and  cloaking  that  one  with  the  pre- 
text of  an  unhappy  necessity;  if  we  always  decide 
in  our  own  favour,  if,  when  doubts  arise  about  some 
injustice  we  may  have  committed,  and  which  might 
involve  serious  obligations,  we,  at  once,  resolve  the 
question  to  our  own  satisfaction ;  if,  to  avoid  a  labor- 
ious and  tedious  examination,  however  salutary  and 
necessary  it  may  be,  I  satisfy  myself  with  a  hurried 
review  of  the  state  of  my  conscience,  and  so  stifle 
its  cries  and  its  protests;  is  not  this  sort  of  penance 
calculated  to  draw  down  upon  us  the  divine  maledic- 
tion, instead  of  mercy  and  pardon?  We  must  then, 
my  brethren,  weigh  our  sins  in  the  balance  of  the 
sanctuary,  and  not  in  the  scales  of  human  passion 
and  prejudice. 

(2.)  Another  reason  why  we  should  punish  our- 
selves with  severity  is  that  we  judge  ourselves  and 
not  others.  This  seems  like  a  paradox;  for  we  are 
naturally  inclined  to  be  lenient  to  ourselves,  and 
severe  towards  others.  For  that  very  reason,  I  say, 
we  ought  to  judge  ourselves  with  the  utmost  sever- 
ity, in  order  to  overcome  this  inordinate  tendency 
to  self-love  and  self-indulgence.  The  slightest  in- 
juries become  outrages  when  they  are  directed 


FOURTH  SUNDAY  OF  ADVENT    61 

against  ourselves;  whilst,  on  the  other  hand,  the 
most  cruel  sufferings  of  others  hardly  touch  us  at 
all.  What  is  the  cause  of  this  but  that  self-love 
which  blinds  our  judgments;  and  how  is  it  to  be 
overcome  except  by  rigorous  penance  inflicted  on 
ourselves? 

(3.)  A  third  reason  is,  that  the  judgment  we  pass 
on  ourselves  is  not  a  final  one.  It  is  subject  to  the 
revision  of  a  higher  court;  the  bar  of  divine  Justice, 
the  dread  tribunal  of  Him  who  will  judge  justices, 
and  search  Jerusalem  with  lamps.  (Ps.  L,XXIV;  3.) 
What  does  this  mean,  my  dear  brethren,  that  God 
will  judge  justice?  It  means  that,  at  the  great 
accounting-day,  God  will  judge,  not  only  our  sins, 
but  also,  as  St.  Chrysostom  observes,  the  judgments 
we  have  passed  on  our  sins.  He  will  examine  our 
accusations.  He  will  condemn  our  judgments;  He 
will  punish  us  for  our  penances;  in  a  word,  He  will 
make  us  repent  of  our  repentances.  This  is  what  is 
meant  by  the  words,  'I  will  judge  justices.' 

After  all,  my  dear  brethren,  what  does  this  whole- 
some severity  demand  of  us,  but  that  we  should  act 
according  to  the  light  of  reason,  which  God  has 
given  to  us:  "Return,  ye  transgressors,  to  the 
heart."  (Is.  XLVI-8.)  "Such  is  the  admonition 
of  the  Holy  Spirit ;  and  it  is  just  this  which  we  find  so 
difficult  in  doing  adequate  penance :  to  cut  off  every- 
thing which  reason  teaches  us  to  be  sinful  or  leading 
to  sin;  to  pluck  out  from  our  hearts  attachments 
which  we  know  to  be  criminal;  to  renounce  those 
pleasures  and  satisfactions  which  entangle  us  in  sin; 


62  SERMONS  FOR  THE  YEAR 

to  observe  all  the  precautions  necessary  to  keep  us 
from  sin ;  to  repair  the  evil  effects  of  sin  by  the  con- 
trary acts  of  virtue.  All  this  costs  much  and  con- 
stitutes the  hardship  of  Christian  penance,  more  than 
the  long  fasts  and  vigils  and  prostrations  of  the  an- 
cient Canons.  Those  ancient  Canons  have  fallen 
into  disuse;  but  this  essential  and  reasonable  sub- 
stance of  penance  can  never  fall  into  desuetude,  as 
long  as  sin  exists,  and  God  is  God.  To  stifle  a  feel- 
ing of  resentment,  to  pardon  an  injury,  to  restore 
ill-gotten  goods,  to  make  reparation  of  another's 
honour  and  fair  fame;  to  sacrifice  some  tender  pas- 
sion, to  break  off  a  dangerous  intercourse;  all  this 
is  far  more  difficult  than  fasting  on  bread  and  water. 
It  is  plucking  up  our  nature  by  the  very  roots;  but 
cost  what  it  will,  it  must  be  done. 

II.  And  yet,  my  dear  brethren,  hard  though  the 
task  may  be,  it  is  nevertheless  sweet  and  pleasant; 
and  it  is  the  more  sweet  and  pleasant  in  proportion 
as  the  penance  is  hard  and  severe.  Tertullian,  who 
is  celebrated  for  the  happy  terseness  of  his  expres- 
sions, has,  perhaps,  never  said  anything  more  true 
than  this:  "The  penance  of  a  man  is  the  happiness 
of  the  guilty."  We  cannot  enjoy  the  happiness  of 
innocence;  our  only  happiness  in  this  life  must  be  in 
doing  penance.  This  happiness  necessarily  results 
from  the  peace  and  tranquility  of  conscience  which 
true  penance  works  within  us,  and  from  the  joy  of 
the  Holy  Spirit  with  which  the  soul  of  the  penitent 
overflows.  Hence,  to  Mary  Magdalene,  the  model  of 
true  penitents,  our  Lord  advanced  those  consoling 


FOURTH  SUNDAY  OF  ADVENT    ,63 

words:  "Thy  sins  are  forgiven  thee;  go  in  peace." 
(Luke  VII ;  48 ;  50.)  Oh !  my  brethren,  what  blessing, 
what  happiness  on  earth  can  equal  the  bliss  of  that 
peace,  the  'peace  of  God/  the  'peace  which  the 
world  cannot  give,'  the  'peace  which  surpasseth  all 
understanding,'  which  gives  repose  to  our  troubled 
hearts,  which  allays  all  their  remorse  and  unrest. 
What  joy,  too,  in  the  Holy  Spirit,  when  the  soul  feels 
that  by  its  salutary  penance,  by  the  sacrifices  which 
it  has  made,  it  has  broken  all  the  bonds  of  sin  which 
enchained  it ;  so  that  it  is  able  to  break  forth  into  that 
exclamation  of  joy  with  the  Psalmist:  "Thou  hast 
broken  my  bonds ;  I  will  sacrifice  to  thee  the  sacrifice 
of  praise."  (Ps.  CXV;  16,  17.)  No  doubt,  carnal 
minded  people,  who  do  not  practice  penance,  cannot 
comprehend  this  joy  and  peace  of  holy  penance; 
how  should  they,  when  all  their  ideas  are  centered 
on  the  false  and  flattering  joys  of  sense?  But  if  we 
wish  for  a  practical  proof  of  what  this  joy  is,  let  us 
turn  to  the  example  of  a  great  penitent,  St.  Augus- 
tine, who  thus  relates  his  experience.  After  de- 
scribing how  he  had  broken  the  chain  of  his  miser- 
able bondage,  he  says:  "What  pleasure  I  found  all 
at  once  in  renouncing  the  criminal  pleasures  of  the 
world;  and  how  sweet  it  was  to  quit  that  which  I 
feared  so  much  to  lose.  For  Thou,  Oh  God,  Who  art 
the  only  true  and  sovereign  Good,  capable  of  satisfy- 
ing the  soul,  didst  supply  the  place  of  every  pleasure; 
and  the  joy  of  seeing  myself  at  last  subject  to  Thee; 
the  joy  of  having  overcome  myself,  was  for  me  some- 
thing more  delightful  than  all  my  past  delights." 


64  SERMONS  FOR  THE  YEAR 

Yes,  my  brethren,  this  joy  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  which 
belongs  to  true  penitents,  is  that  hidden  manna  which 
is  promised  to  all  who  overcome  themselves  by  true 
penance.  "To  him  that  overcometh  I  will  give  the 
hidden  manna."  (Apoc.  II;  17.) 

Lay  well  to  heart,  then,  my  dear  brethren,  these 
words  of  one  who  comes  before  you,  like  the  Bap- 
tist, without  his  sanctity  and  his  merits,  but  deputed 
by  the  same  God,  and  invested  with  the  same  mis- 
sion. "So  penance,  for  the  Kingdom  of  God  is  at 
hand."  Yes,  in  a  few  days,  the  great  mystery  of 
redemption  will  be  accomplished.  See  that  you  be 
well  prepared  for  His  coming.  But  there  is  another 
sense  in  which  the  Kingdom  of  God  is  at  hand  for 
each  one  of  us.  The  end  of  our  life,  the  judgment 
which  follows;  the  eternal  doom,  which  then  begins, 
is  at  hand  for  each  of  us.  It  may  be  to-day  or  to- 
morrow; it  may  be  any  day;  we  do  not  know  when 
it  will  be ;  therefore,  it  is  at  hand  for  each  one  of  us ; 
Oh!  if  we  knew  for  certain  that  our  life  was  to  be 
counted  by  hours,  or  days,  how  sweet  then  would 
all  penances  become  to  us;  how  easy  the  yoke  which 
seems  to  us  now  so  hard  to  bear.  Let  us  then  act 
as  if  we  possessed  this  certainty  of  our  approaching 
end;  and  bring  forth  fruits  worthy  of  penance;  that 
so  we  may,  by  God's  mercy,  render  ourselves  fit  for 
His  heavenly  Kingdom,  to  which,  after  this  short 
term  of  penance,  we  shall  be  reinstated  to  enjoy  God 
forever  more. 


65 
FOURTH  SUNDAY  OF  ADVENT. 

(From  the  Lesson.) 

"Judge  not  before  the  time."     (I  Cor.  IV;  5.) 

The  sin  of  rash  judgment  against  which  the  apostle 
speaks  in  this  Sunday's  epistle,  is  a  sin  against  the 
Eighth  Commandment,  and  a  grievous  sin.  It  is 
a  sin  which  is  universally  prevalent;  and  is  to  be 
found  even  in  those  who  are  accounted  good 
people;  who  would  not  offend  against  the  other 
Commandments  but,  somehow  or  other,  are  contin- 
ually infringing  this. 

The  sinfulness  of  rash  judgment  consists  in  its 
being  a  violation  of  the  law  of  charity.  Now, 
charity  is  the  fulfillment  of  the  law,  and  to  sin  against 
charity,  is  to  sin  against  the  whole  law.  What, 
then,  is  meant  by  rash  judgment?  It  consists  in 
deliberately  entertaining  an  unpardonable  opinion 
of  another  without  sufficient  grounds.  Two  things, 
therefore,  are  required  to  constitute  this  sin:  (1) 
that  the  matter  upon  which  we  judge  our  neighbours 
is  something  prejudicial  to  him,  and  lessens  his 
reputation  in  our  mind;  and  (2)  that  the  judgment 
is  formed  without  reasonable  grounds. 

(Prov.  XXII.  1.)  I.  A  good  name  is  better 
than  great  riches;  it  is  a  possession  to  which  every 
one  is  entitled,  until  he  has  forfeited  it  by  his  own 
act.  Hence,  to  rob  him  of  that  good  name,  in  our 
own  estimation,  is  a  more  grievous  crime  than  it 
would  be  to  rob  him  of  that  material  wealth,  which, 
to  him,  is  far  less  precious  than  his  fair  fame. 


66  SERMONS  FOR  THE  YEAR 

II.  I  said,  that  the  judgment,  to  be  sinful,  must 
be  formed  without  reasonable  grounds.  For,  if 
we  are  sure  that  our  opinion  is  correct,  it  is  clearly 
no  sin  to  entertain  that  opinion.  For  example,  if 
we  know  that  a  certain  person  is  in  the  habit  of 
telling  lies,  it  is  no  sin  to  doubt  his  word  on  a  given 
occasion.  Again,  if  any  one  has  been  convicted  of 
theft,  it  is  no  sin  to  judge  him  dishonest.  But  we 
are  not  justified  in  judging  any  one  to  be  guilty  of 
one  sin  because  we  know  him  to  have  been  guilty  of 
another.  Thus,  if  we  know  such  an  one  to  be  un- 
truthful, we  are  not  justified  in  supposing  that  he  is 
dishonest,  too.  We  must  have  distinct  and  sufficient 
grounds  for  our  adverse  judgment,  in  each  case,  in 
order  to  justify  it,  and  excuse  it  from  being  sinful. 
Moreover,  in  estimating  the  sufficiency  of  these 
grounds,  we  must  be  very  much  on  our  guard,  lest 
we  be  influenced  by  personal  dislike  and  enmity. 
Thus,  people  are  very 'liable  to  judge  ill  of  those 
towards  whom  they  have  a  dislike  and  on  very 
slight  grounds.  By  so  doing,  they  are  guilty  of  rash 
judgment.  Such  persons  are  apt  to  view  the  con- 
duct of  those  who  are  objectionable  to  them  through 
colored  spectacles;  so  that  all  their  actions  assume 
the  malignant  hue,  which  in  reality  belongs  to  the 
medium  through  which  they  are  viewed.  Their 
enmity  magnifies  the  slightest  things;  it  leads  them  to 
put  malicious  interpretations  on  the  most  innocent 
actions.  If  it  can  find  no  fault  with  the  action,  it 
will  find  fault  with  the  motive.  It  will  attribute 
improper  motives  where  none  such  are  apparent. 


FOURTH  SUNDAY  OF  ADVENT    67 

It  warps  the  judgment  so  much  that  those  who  are 
in  this  state  of  mind  are  incapable  of  passing  any 
correct  judgment  upon  those  against  whom  they 
entertain  these  feelings.  Hence,  these  uncharitable 
persons  are  always  watching  those  whom  they  call 
their  enemies;  just  as  the  scribes  and  Pharisees 
watched  the  conduct  of  our  divine  I/ord,  in  order  to 
find  matter  of  accusation  against  him.  If  they  suc- 
ceed in  detecting  anything  that  has  the  appearance 
of  wrong  about  it,  they  pounce  upon  it;  they  drag 
it  out  to  the  light;  magnify  it;  and  found  upon  it 
the  most  uncharitable  constructions.  If  they  can- 
not find  anything  wrong,  they  will  seize  upon  their 
good  actions,  and  attribute  them  to  sinister  motives, 
and  accuse  their  victims  of  hypocrisy  and  insincer- 
ity. Such  conduct,  (and  it  is  unhappily  but  too 
common)  is  most  reprehensible;  for  it  implies  an 
habitual  state  of  sin.  Their  thoughts,  from  morning 
to  night,  are  a  succession  of  sins  of  rash  judgment. 

There  is  another  observation  on  this  matter  which 
is  very  frequently  overlooked.  It  is  a  sin  to  judge 
our  neighbour,  even  if  the  judgment  be  a  true  one, 
if,  at  the  time  of  forming  the  judgment,  we  had  not 
sufficient  grounds  for  believing  it  true.  Some  per- 
sons seem  to  imagine  that  the  future  event  justifies 
their  previous  rash  and  uncharitable  surmises.  Thus, 
how  often  does  it  happen  that  one  suspects  another 
of  some  fault,  without  sufficient  grounds,  either 
because  he  has  a  grudge  against  that  person,  or  be- 
cause it  is  a  habit  with  him  to  suspect  everybody 
around  him.  It  afterwards  turns  out  that  the  sus- 


68  SERMONS  FOR  THE  YEAR 

picion  is  verified,  that  the  person  has  committed 
that  fault.  Immediately,  these  people  turn  round 
in  triumph,  and  say:  "I  told  you  so.  I  knew  he 
had  done  it.  You  see  I  was  quite  right."  And  they 
seem  to  think  that  the  event  justifies  their  suspi- 
cions; and  that  there  was  no  sin  in  their  judgment; 
forgetting  the  maxim  of  holy  Scripture  which  says: 
"The  sons  of  men  are  liars  in  the  balances."  (Ps. 
LXI;  10.)  My  brethren,  there  was  sin  in  that  judg- 
ment ;  and  that  sin  is  quite  irrespective  of  the  truth 
or  falsehood  of  the  judgment,  so  long  as  there  was 
no  certain  evidence  of  its  truth  at  the  time. 

I  said  that  rash  judgment  is  a  grievous  sin.  I  do 
not  mean  by  that  that  it  is  always  a  mortal  sin;  but 
that  it  is  of  its  own  nature  a  grievous  sin,  being 
directly  opposed  to  the  law  of  charity  and  justice; 
but  the  question  whether  in  any  particular  case  the 
rash  judgment  amounts  to  a  grievous  sin  depends 
on  two  considerations:  (1)  on  the  greatness  of  the 
injury  which  is  done  to  our  neighbour's  character; 
and  (2)  on  the  insufficiency  of  the  grounds  on  which 
our  judgment  rests. 

(1)  With  regard  to  the  first  point,  as  a  general 
rule,  it  would  be  a  mortal  sin  to  judge  our  neigh- 
bours rashly  in  a  grievous  matter;  and  a  venial  sin 
to  judge  him  in  that  which  is  venial.  But  there 
may  easily  be  exceptions  to  this  general  rule.  These 
exceptions  all  resolve  themselves  to  particular  ap- 
plications of  the  general  principle  that  the  guilt  is 
measured  by  the  injury  done.  Hence,  it  is  a  greater 
sin  to  judge  rashly  one  who  has  an  unblemished 


FOURTH  SUNDAY  OF  ADVENT    69 

reputation  than  one  who  has  little  or  no  character 
to  lose.  For  example,  we  might  commit  a  sin  of 
rash  judgment,  in  thinking  that  some  one  had  fallen 
into  the  sin  of  drunkenness,  without  sufficient 
grounds;  but  if  the  person  suspected  were  a  notor- 
ious drunkard,  the  injury  done  to  his  reputation 
would  be  very  slight;  and  the  sin  would  be  propor- 
tionately venial.  Again,  on  the  other  hand,  if  the 
matter  of  our  rash  judgment  be  something  compara- 
tively trivial  or  venial,  but  the  person  whom  we 
suspect  be  a  superior,  as  for  example,  a  priest,  it  may 
easily  happen  that  our  sin  might  be  grievous;  because 
the  injury  done  to  his  reputation  would  be  grievous 
in  proportion  to  his  superior  position,  and  his  claims 
to  our  respect  and  esteem.  It  is  to  this  principle 
that  the  Apostle  alludes  in  this  day's  epistle,  when 
he  says:  "Let  a  man  so  account  of  us  as  of  the 
ministers  of  Christ,  and  the  dispensers  of  the  myster- 
ies of  God."  They  are,  therefore,  appointed  by  God 
to  be  the  judges  over  the  faithful;  and  they  may  not 
be  judged  by  them;  for  "He  that  judgeth  them  is  the 
Lord."  Their  sacred  office  establishes  on  the  faith- 
ful a  claim  to  their  respect,  which  must  ever  exclude 
any  adverse  judgment  that  is  founded  merely  on 
conjecture  and  inference. 

(2)  The  second  consideration  which  determines 
the  guilt  of  the  sin  of  rash  judgment  is  the  insuffi- 
ciency of  the  grounds  on  which  it  is  founded.  Thus, 
if  the  grounds  are  such  as  to  warrant  absolute  con- 
viction, there  is  no  sin  at  all.  If  there  be  no  grounds, 
our  judgment  is  altogether  sinful.  If  there  be  some 


70  SERMONS  FOR  THE  YEAR 

grounds,  or  appearance  of  guilt  our  sin  will  be  in 
proportion  to  the  degree  in  which  our  judgment 
exceeds  the  presumption  which  that  evidence  war- 
rants. 

It  must  be  carefully  borne  in  mind  that  I  am  not 
speaking  of  the  vice  of  detraction,  which  is  quite  a 
different  sin;  the  sin,  namely,  of  evil  speaking. 
What  we  are  now  considering  is  the  vice  of  evil 
thinking.  A  judgment  is  not  rash  nor  sinful,  how- 
ever detrimental  it  may  be  to  our  neighbour's  re- 
putation, provided  it  is  true  and  well-founded. 
But  to  speak  of  that  judgment  to  another,  to  dis- 
close another's  sin,  however  true,  is  a  grievous  sin 
of  detraction. 

Judge  not,  then,  my  dear  brethren,  before  the 
time;  until  the  Lord  come,  Who  both  will  bring  to 
light  the  hidden  things  of  darkness,  and  will  make 
manifest  the  counsels  of  hearts.  Let  us  guard  our 
minds  and  thoughts  carefully  from  this  sin  which  is 
unhappily  so  prevalent;  even  amongst  those  who 
aim  at  leading  an  exemplary  life.  It  is  a  violation 
of  justice  and  charity;  of  justice,  because  it  robs  our 
neighbour  of  his  good  name,  to  which  he  is  entitled ; 
of  charity,  because  it  treats  our  neighbour  in  a  way 
in  which  we  should  not  like  to  be  treated  ourselves 
by  others.  It  is  a  vice  against  which  our  Lord  has 
pronounced  the  severest  judgment.  "Judgment 
without  mercy  to  him  that  hath  not  done  mercy." 
(lac.  II;  13.)  For,  it  is  only  right  and  just  that  those 
who,  in  this  life,  are  always  judging  their  neighbours, 
and  condemning  them,  should  themselves,  at  the 


IV  SUNDAY  OF  ADVENT  71 

day  of  judgment,  be  judged  without  mercy,  and 
condemned  without  reprieve.  On  the  other  hand, 
they  who  are  merciful  shall  themselves  find  mercy. 
"Judge  not;  and  you  shall  not  be  judged."  (Luke 
VI;  37.)  By  observing  the  law  of  charity,  which 
thinketh  no  evil  (I  Cor.  XIII;  5),  and  by  always 
seeking  to  excuse,  as  far  as  we  can,  the  faults  of 
others,  we  shall  deserve  to  pass  from  this  life  to  the 
next  without  any  judgment.  For  love  is  the  ful- 
filling of  the  law;  and  by  this  we  may  "know  that 
we  have  passed  from  death  to  life,  because  we  love 
the  brethren."  (Rom.  XIII;  10;  I  John  III;  14.) 


FOURTH  SUNDAY  OF  ADVENT. 

(From  the  Lesson.) 

"Who  will  bring  to  light  the  hidden  things  of  dark- 
ness, and  will  make  manifest  the  counsels  of  hearts." 
(I  Cor.  IV;  5.) 

We  have  now,  my  dear  brethren,  reached  the 
fourth  Sunday  of  Advent,  and  are  on  the  eve  of  the 
great  solemnity  of  Christmas.  During  the  whole  of 
this  month,  the  holy  Season  of  Advent,  the  Church 
has  invited  us  to  listen  to  the  preaching  of  St.  John 
the  Baptist,  calling  upon  us  to  prepare  the  way  of 
the  Lord,  and  to  make  straight  His  paths.  (Matth. 
Ill;  3.)  Now  have  we  corresponded  to  that  invita- 
tion? What  preparation  have  we  made  for  our 
Lord's  coming?  With  what  dispositions  shall  we 
receive  our  new-born  Saviour  when,  in  the  course 


72  SERMONS  FOR  THE  YEAR 

of  a  few  hours,  He  will  appear  amongst  us?  I  say, 
will  appear;  for,  as  you  were  told  last  Sunday,  and 
I  wish  to  insist  on  it  once  again,  the  Festival  of 
Christmas  is  not  a  bare  commemoration  of  a  fact 
which  took  place  nearly  1900  years  ago,  but  it  is  a 
living,  present,  actual  fact. 

The  apostle  says  that  Jesus  Christ  is  the  same 
yesterday,  to-day  and  forever;  (Heb.  XIII;  8)  that 
is  to  say,  the  past,  the  present  and  the  future  are 
in  Him  summed  up  in  the  sempiternal  presence  by 
which  He  subsists  as  our  Emmanuel,  which  means 
Our  God  with  us.  (Matth.  I;  23.)  Such  being  the 
case,  it  behooves  us  to  put  ourselves  in  the  same 
state  of  preparedness  as  those  who  actually  knelt 
round  the  stall  of  Bethlehem.  We  ought  to  be  in 
the  same  frame  of  mind  as  Mary  and  Joseph,  who 
are  even  now  plodding  along  their  wintry  journey 
by  miry  roads  from  Nazareth  to  Bethlehem;  as  the 
simple  shepherds  who  came  to  worship  the  Divine 
Infant  in  His  crib ;  as  the  angels  who  exultingly  sang 
over  Him  their  joyful  canticle  of  Glory  to  God  in  the 
highest,  and  of  peace  on  earth  to  men  of  good  will; 
as  the  holy  Kings  who  came  from  the  uttermost  parts 
of  the  East  to  pour  into  His  lap  their  costliest  gifts. 

But  how  are  you  to  attain  this  state  of  prepara- 
tion? Well,  my  dear  brethren,  during  this  holy 
season  you  have  seen,  standing  before  you  the  figure 
of  our  Lord's  Precursor,  spare  and  emaciated  from 
long  abstinence,  clad  in  a  camel's  hide,  his  features 
gleaming  with  the  fire  caught  from  that  intercourse 
with  God  which  he  held  in  the  solitude  of  the  desert. 


IV  SUNDAY  OF  ADVENT  73 

And  what  was  the  burden  of  the  counsel  which  he 
gave  to  the  terrified  multitudes  who  thronged 
around  him?  You  have  heard  it  repeated  over  and 
over  again;  'Do  penance,  for  the  Kingdom  of  God  is 
at  hand.'  There  is  no  other  way,  my  dear  brethren; 
and  I  should  only  be  deceiving  you,  if  I  pretended 
that  there  was  any  other.  I  can  but  echo  the  words 
of  him  who  declared  himself  to  be  but  a  voice. 
For,  when  asked  if  he  were  EHas  or  the  prophet  or 
Christ,  he  denied  that  he  was  any  one  of  these;  and 
when  he  was  further  asked  to  say  who  and  what  he 
was,  he  did  not  say  that  he  was  even  a  man;  but  only 
a  voice.  (John  V;  23.)  And  so  the  preacher  who 
stands  before  you  must  say  that  he  is  but  a  voice; 
and  when  I  survey  the  more  than  half  empty  benches 
before  me,  I  may  truly  say  that  I  am  the  voice  of  one 
crying  in  the  wilderness.  But  if  I  am  but  a  voice, 
which  can  only  repeat  what  it  hears  or  is  suggested 
to  it,  I  hope,  my  dear  brethren,  that  you,  on  your 
part,  are  all  ear,  in  order  to  hear  and  comply  with 
what  is  said  to  you.  'Do  penance.'  And  why  must 
we  do  penance?  The  same  warning  voice  given  us 
the  reason:  "for  now  the  axe  is  laid  to  the  root  of  the 
tree.  Every  tree,  therefore,  that  bringeth  not  forth 
good  fruit  shall  be  cut  down  and  cast  into  the  fire." 
(Luke  III;  9.) 

The  great  difficulty  with  us,  as  with  the  multi- 
tudes who  heard  the  Baptist  preach,  is  to  realize 
the  truth  which  he  pointed  out  to  them;  that  there 
hath  stood  One  in  the  midst  of  us  whom  we  know 
not.  (John  I;  26.)  Every  sinner  who  is  uncon- 


74  SERMONS  FOR  THE  YEAR 

verted  is  blind  and  infatuated.  He  cannot  even  see 
the  axe  that  is  already  laid  to  the  root  of  the  tree. 
As  the  wise  man  says,  the  fascination  of  frivolity, 
draws  a  veil  over  what  is  good  and  true,  so  that  he 
sees  it  not.  Sin  is  in  itself,  and  irrespective  of  its 
consequences,  the  greatest,  I  may  say  the  only 
calamity.  But  the  sinner  does  not  realize  it,  so 
long  as  it  does  not  touch  that  part  of  him  in  which 
and  for  which  he  lives,  the  indulgence  of  his  appe- 
tites. Nor  do  the  threats  of  the  Divine  judgments 
move  him,  because  they  are  too  remote  to  make  any 
impression  upon  him.  To  all  such  menaces  sinners 
reply  as  did  the  people  of  old  to  the  prophet  Ezekiel  : 
"Son  of  man,  behold  the  house  of  Israel,  them  that 
say :  the  vision  that  this  man  seeth  is  for  many  days 
to  come,  and  this  man  prophesieth  of  times  afar  off !" 
(Ezek.  XII;  27).  Hence,  nothing  moves  the  sinner, 
neither  the  present  evil  of  sin,  which  though  present, 
is  not  sensible  to  him;  nor  the  pains  of  hell,  which 
though  sensible  are  not  present  to  him. 

The  only  thing  that  can  awaken  sinners  is  that 
they  should  open  their  eyes  to  the  presence  of  Him 
who  is  ever  in  their  midst,  though  they  knew  it  not. 
"And  thy  eyes  shall  see  thy  Teacher;  and  thy  ear 
shall  hear  the  word  of  one  admonishing  thee  behind 
tfcy  back;  this  is  the  way,  walk  ye  in  it;  and  go  not 
aside  neither  to  the  right  hand  nor  to  the  left." 
(Is.  XXX;  20,  21.)  And  how  are  we  to  recognize 
our  Teacher,  so  that  we  may  listen  to  His  admoni- 
tions with  becoming  docility?  My  brethren,  the 
merciful  Providence  of  God  has  supplied  us  with  a 


IV  SUNDAY  OF  ADVENT  75 

means.  On  the  day  of  our  Lord's  Resurrection, 
when  two  of  his  diciples  were  going  from  Jerusalem 
to  Emaus,  the  risen  Saviour  joined  their  company 
and  entered  into  conversation  with  them.  But 
they  knew  Him  not  until  the  evening,  when  at  their 
request  He  tarried  with  them,  and  broke  bread  with 
them;  and  they  knew  Him  in  the  breaking  of  bread. 
(Luke  XXIV.) 

Thus  too  shall  we  know  our  new-born  Saviour,  in 
the  breaking  of  bread,  in  the  holy  Communion  of 
His  Blessed  Body  and  Blood.  But  this  communion, 
as  you  know,  presupposes  a  good  confession.  Hence, 
before  He  can  make  himself  known  to  us  in  the 
breaking  of  bread,  He  must  first  by  His  grace  bring 
to  light  the  hidden  things  of  darkness  and  make 
manifest  the  counsels  of  hearts.  Such  are  the 
steps,  my  dear  brethren,  by  which  Christians  are  to 
prepare  themselves  for  the  great  solemnity  which 
is  fast  approaching.  How  different  is  the  way  of 
the  world  in  this  matter!  The  world  is  looking  for- 
ward to  a  time  of  sin,  of  sensuality,  of  intemper- 
ance, of  folly;  and  the  hallowed  associations  of 
Christmas  are  drowned  in  the  riot  of  pagan  revel- 
lings.  I  do  not  say  that  Christmas  is  not  a  time  for 
innocent  enjoyment  and  festivity;  far  from  it.  But 
there  is  a  time  and  a  place  for  everything,  and  to 
plunge  without  restraint  into  this  vortex  of  dissipa- 
tion, regardless  of  the  great  mystery  which  this 
season  commemorates,  would  utterly  pervert  the 
meaning  of  this  great  Sacrament  of  the  Christian 
dispensation. 


76  SERMONS  FOR  THE  YEAR 

May  then  the  coming  Christmas  be  a  happy  one 
to  you  in  the  truest  sense  of  the  word;  may  it  fill 
you  with  all  spiritual  joy  and  consolation ;  may  it  fitly 
crown  with  blessings  the  year  which  is  swiftly  pass- 
ing away;  and  may  it  inaugurate  a  new  year  of 
progress  in  the  way  of  perfection,  and  be  an  earnest 
of  a  happy  eternity;  and  then  shall  every  man  have 
praise  from  God. 


CHRISTMAS  EVE. 

(From  the  Gospel.) 

"Joseph,  son  of  David,  fear  not  to  take  unto  thee 
Mary  thy  wife;  for  that  which  is  conceived  in  her  is  of 
the  Holy  Ghost."  (Matth.  1 :  20.) 

During  the  nine  months  which  elapsed  from  the 
time  of  the  Incarnation  to  the  Birth  of  our  Lord, 
there  are  but  two  incidents  recorded  in  the  holy 
gospels;  one  of  which  is  the  visit  made  by  our  I/ady 
to  her  cousin,  St.  Elizabeth,  which  is  the  subject  of 
a  special  festival  in  the  Church  on  July  2nd ;  the  other 
is  the  revelation  made  by  the  Angel  to  St.  Joseph  of 
the  great  mystery  which  had  been  accomplished  in 
his  spouse;  which,  although  it  is  not  the  subject  of 
a  special  festival,  yet  furnishes  us  with  matter  for 
our  devout  meditation.  To  this  incident  then  let 
me  call  your  devout  attention  for  a  few  moments. 

First:  What  were  the  circumstances?  Mary  was 
the  spouse  of  Joseph.  The  Fathers  of  the  Church 
in  treating  of  this  subject  specify  several  reasons  for 
this  marriage.  One  was  to  sanctify  the  married  state ; 


CHRISTMAS   EVE  77 

to  foreshadow  its  future  elevation  to  the  dignity  of  a 
Christian  Sacrament;  to  signify  that  the  higher  end  of 
this  sacrament  is  to  effect  a  Spiritual  union,  and  an 
increase  of  grace  and  charity.  Another  reason  was 
that  Mary  and  her  divine  infant  might  be  protected 
before  the  world  by  a  husband  and  a  reputed  father. 
For,  as  one  of  the  Fathers  observes,  had  it  not  been 
for  this  marriage,  the  blessed  Virgin  might  have  been 
put  to  death  by  her  people,  according  to  the  severe 
law  of  Moses.  Divine  Providence,  in  the  accomplish- 
ment of  this  mystery,  acted  according  to  its  wonted 
principle,  of  working  out  its  end  with  order  and 
regularity,  and  with  the  least  possible  disturbance 
of  natural  and  social  laws. 

At  this  time,  then,  Mary  carried  in  her  womb  the 
incarnate  God.  He,  who  is  born  of  the  Father  from 
all  eternity,  and  one  with  Him,  became  Man  by  as- 
suming our  nature,  which  was  formed  by  the  power 
of  the  Holy  Ghost,  in  the  chaste  womb  of  Mary,  she 
still  remaining  an  immaculate  Virgin.  What  we 
have  now  to  consider  is  the  .conduct  of  Mary  and 
Joseph  under  these  circumstances. 

And,  first,  let  us  admire  the  silence  of  Mary. 
Everything  is  wonderful  connected  with  this  mystery, 
but  have  we  ever  meditated  on  this  wonderful  silence 
of  our  Lady,  under  the  consciousness  of  the  mighty 
things  that  had  been  wrought  in  her?  (Luke  I;  69.) 
Although  she  was  in  possession  of  a  secret,  the  reve- 
lation of  which  seemed  due  to  the  whole  human 
race;  for  it  concerned  the  salvation,  the  eternal 
destinies  of  the  whole  human  race;  yet  she  left  the 


78  SERMONS  FOR  THE  YEAR 

whole  matter  to  God;  nor  would  she  open  her  lips 
on  the  subject  to  any  human  being,  except  once, 
to  her  cousin  Elizabeth;  and  then  only  when  she 
knew  that  the  secret  had  been  revealed  to  her  by 
God  Himself.  That  secret  was  sacred  to  her;  for  it 
was  the  secret  of  the  King;  (Job  XII;  7)  and  none 
of  the  specious  and  plausible  reasons,  which  we  allow 
to  influence  our  conduct,  could  have  any  influence 
with  her.  She  did  not  say,  what  comfort  will  not 
these  good  tidings  give  to  my  spouse,  to  my  parents ! 
I  will  tell  them,  and  cheer  their  declining  years  with 
the  joyful  news  of  their  speedy  redemption.  She 
did  not  say,  it  is  my  duty  to  make  known  to  the 
world  that  their  longing  and  their  expectation  are 
about  to  be  fulfilled.  No,  she  persevered  in  the 
course  she  had  ever  planned,  of  leaving  everything 
to  God; of  being  simply  an  instrument  in  His  Hands, 
to  do  with  her  as  He  would.  "Be  it  done  to  me,  ac- 
cording to  Thy  Word."  (Luke  I;  38.)  And,  if  she 
had  any  wish  in  the  matter,  her  humility  compelled 
her  even  to  desire  that  the  revelation  of  her  exalted 
dignity  should  be  deferred  as  long  as  possible. 

But,  in  another  respect,  her  silence  was  far  more 
wonderful.  From  the  rest  of  the  world  she  concealed 
a  mystery  which  was  wholly  unknown  to  and  un- 
noticed by  them.  But  it  was  far  different  with  her 
chaste  spouse.  To  the  eyes  of  St.  Joseph,  there  was 
an  obvious  mystery,  and  a  terrible  mystery;  for  it 
was  wholly  inexplicable  to  him.  'My  dear  brethren, 
let  us  adore  the  inscrutable  counsels  of  God,  who 
permitted  these  two  holy  souls  to  be  subjected  to 


CHRISTMAS  EVE  79 

this  terrible  trial;  a  trial  which  we  can  never  com- 
prehend in  all  its  intensity,  because  we  can  form  no 
adequate  conception  of  the  purity  and  sanctity  of 
the  souls  who  were  subjected  to  it.  Mary  sees  her 
husband  a  prey  to  the  most  terrible  anguish  which 
the  human  mind  can  conceive.  She  knows  that  she 
has  but  to  speak  one  word;  and  that  one  word  will 
change  his  bitter  anguish  into  ecstatic  joy;  that 
it  will  relieve  herself  from  a  suspicion,  the  bare  pos- 
sibility of  which  must  have  been  torture  to  her  be- 
yond anything  that  can  be  imagined;  and  yet,  that 
word  is  not  spoken,  because  it  is  God's  secret,  and 
she  leaves  it  to  God  to  reveal  it  in  His  Own  good 
time.  Again,  that  word  is  not  spoken,  because,  if 
spoken,  it  would  redound  to  her  honour  and  glory; 
and  to  say  or  do  anything  for  such  an  end  was 
wholly  impossible  to  Mary's  humility. 

Let  us  not  fail  to  compare  our  own  conduct,  our 
own  motives  of  action,  with  this  noble  example  of 
the  Mother  of  God,  and  strive,  according  to  our  weak 
ability,  to  imitate  that  example. 

In  the  next  place,  let  us  consider  the  conduct  of 
St.  Joseph.  We  hardly  know  which  to  admire 
more — the  humility  and  the  resignation  of  Mary, 
or  the  charity  and  discretion  of  St.  Joseph.  On  the 
one  hand,  he  sees  the  condition  of  his  spouse,  on  the 
other,  he  has  the  testimony  of  his  own  conscience, 
the  experience  which  he  has  had  of  the  purity  and 
sanctity  of  Mary,  the  virginal  compact  between  them, 
and  we  may  well  wonder  whether,  since  the  world 
began,  souls  were  ever  subjected  to  such  an  ordeal. 


80  SERMONS  FOR  THE  YEAR 

There  is  not  one  single  ray  of  comfort  to  alleviate  his 
anguish.  Her  very  silence  seems  to  accuse  her. 
After  undergoing  this  mental  torture,  for  we  know 
not  how  long,  he  forms  a  resolution,  which  marks 
him  out  as  what  the  Scripture  calls  him,"a  just  man." 
A  resolution  which  is  the  outcome  of  a  perfect  spirit 
of  justice,  of  prudence,  of  charity,  of  piety.  He 
sees  no  possible  way  of  acquitting  her;  he  will  not 
think  of  condemning  her.  He  will  not  expose  her 
publicly ;  he  will  quietly  separate  himself  from  her. 

Here,  again,  let  us  compare  our  conduct  with  that 
of  St.  Joseph.  When  we  see  or  hear  anything  in  our 
neighbour  that  bears  the  appearance  of  guilt,  instead 
of  putting  the  most  charitable  construction  upon  it, 
do  we  not  often  magnify  it,  distort  it,  perhaps  even 
gloat  over  it,  talk  about  it,  draw  conclusions  from  it? 
We  judge,  we  pass  sentence,  we  condemn,  we  execute 
our  unfortunate  neighbours  without  justice  or  mercy. 
St.  Joseph  furnishes  us  with  an  example  of  the  con- 
duct we  ought  to  pursue,  under  similar  circumstances. 
When  we  cannot  acquit,  let  us  not  condemn;  but 
deal  with  our  neighbour  with  piety,  with  tenderness, 
and  with  mercy. 

But  it  was  not  God's  Will  to  leave  these  holy  souls 
forever  subject  to  such  a  fearful  trial.  In  His  Own 
good  time,  He  sent  His  Angel  to  enlighten  St.Joseph, 
and  to  reveal  to  him  the  great  mystery  of  the  Incar- 
nation of  God  the  Son,  and  of  the  dignity  to  which 
his  immaculate  spouse  had  been  raised,  of  being  the 
Virgin-Mother  of  God.  Oh!  who  can  imagine  the 
joy,  the  consolation,  the  rapture  of  the  first  meeting 


CHRISTMAS  EVE  81 

of  those  chaste,  faithful  and  loving  souls,  after  this 
revelation!  And  did  they  not  think  that  this  joy 
more  than  repaid  them  for  all  they  had  undergone? 
Now,  did  they  bless  and  thank  God  for  having  pre- 
pared them  for  so  great  joy,  by  so  great  a  trial? 
Thus  was  fulfilled  that  of  the  prophet:  "And  I  will 
turn  their  mourning  into  joy;  and  will  comfort  them, 
and  make  them  joyful  after  their  sorrow."  (Jer. 
XXXI;  13.) 

May  the  example  of  Mary  and  Joseph  be  our  in- 
struction and  consolation.  May  it  move  us  to  the 
utmost  charity  and  tenderness  towards  others,  and 
teach  us  to  exercise  patience  and  resignation,  under 
similar  trials;  to  humble  ourselves  under  the  mighty 
Hand  of  God;  to  hide  the  gifts  which  He  bestows 
upon  us;  to  bear  with  suspicion,  contempt  and  rash 
judgment;  to  leave  our  justification  in  the  hands  of 
God,  who  has  promised  to  vindicate  our  cause, 
even  as  He  knows  how  to  vindicate  His  own,  when 
He  is  judged  by  man's  fallible  judgment.  "Then 
shall  thy  light  break  forth,  as  the  morning,  and  thy 
health  shall  speedily  arise;  and  thy  justice  shall  go 
before  thy  face;  and  the  glory  of  the  Lord  shall 
gather  thee  up."  (Is.  LVIII;  8.) 

CHRISTMAS   EVE. 

(From  the  Lesson.) 

"Who  was  predestined  the  Son  of  God  in  power, 
according  to  the  Spirit  of  Sanctification. ' '  (Rom.  I ;  4. ) 

St.  Peter,  in  his  second  epistle,  speaking  of  the 
epistles  of  his  most  dear  brother,  Paul,  says  that 


82  SERMONS  FOR  THE  YEAR 

there  occur  in  them  "certain  things  hard  to  be  under- 
stood, which  the  unlearned  and  unstable  wrest,  as 
they  do  also  the  other  Scriptures,  to  their  own  des- 
struction."  (2  Peter  III;  16.)  Undoubtedly,  we 
find  in  St.  Paul's  epistles  passages  at  once  the  most 
sublime  and  profound,  to  understand  which  would 
require  an  intelligence,  which,  like  St.  Paul,  had 
been  rapt  to  the  third  heaven,  and  had  heard  words 
which  it  is  not  given  to  man  to  utter.  For  human 
language  is  wholly  inadequate  to  convey  such  sublime 
conceptions.  The  passage  which  we  have  chosen 
for  our  text,  and  which  is  found  in  the  opening  of 
this  day's  epistle,  is  one  of  those  sublime  and  pro- 
found utterances  which  we  may  humbly  hope  to 
investigate  by  the  light  which  Catholic  doctrine  sup- 
plies. Let  us  invoke  the  aid  of  divine  wisdom,  that 
we  may  attain  a  right  intelligence  of  this  great  mys- 
tery. For,  my  brethren,  these  words  refer  to  the 
mystery  which  we  shall  celebrate  to-morrow;  the 
mystery  of  the  Word  made  Flesh. 

Where,  therefore,  the  apostle  says  that  Jesus 
Christ  has  predestined  the  Son  of  God,  we  are  not 
to  understand  these  words  to  mean  that  a  human 
person  was  predestined  to  become  the  Son  of  God 
by  the  power  which  He  exhibited  in  the  miracles 
He  wrought;  by  the  inherent  holiness  with  which 
He  was  invested;  and  by  the  triumph  of  His  resur- 
rection. But  we  are  to  understand  that  God,  by 
His  eternal  decree  of  predestination,  had  determined 
that  the  Second  Person  of  the  Blessed  Trinity,  God 
thy  Son,  should  at  a  given  time,  assume  our  human 


CHRISTMAS  EVE  83 

nature — should  begin  to  subsist  as  God-Man.  Hence, 
the  object  of  this  decree  of  predestination  is  God  the 
Son,  not  in  His  divine  nature  simply,  but  as  sub- 
sisting in  our  human  nature;  in  other  words,  it  is 
God  Incarnate. 

Moreover,  in  the  following  words  the  apostle  goes 
on  to  tell  us  how  this  mystery  was  accomplished; 
"in  power,  according  to  the  Spirit  of  Sanctification." 
To  understand  these  words  aright,  we  must  call  to 
mind  the  great  principle  of  theology;  that,  as  the 
divine  Nature  is  one  in  all  the  Three  Divine  Persons, 
so  all  the  works  of  God  are  common  to  the  Three 
Divine  Persons,  as  being  wrought  by  one  divine 
agent.  The  Three  Persons  are  distinct  only  in  their 
personal  relations  to  each  other.  From  this  princi- 
ple it  follows  that  the  mystery  of  the  Incarnation, 
being  one  of  God's  works,  and  indeed,  the  crowning 
work  of  God's  creative  Power,  must  be  the  work  of 
the  Three  Divine  Persons ;  and  not  peculiar  to  one  of 
the  Three.  This  does  not  mean  that  God  the  Father, 
and  God  the  Holy  Ghost  became  incarnate  as  well 
as  God  the  Son.  For,  being  incarnate,  that  is  sub- 
sisting in  human  nature,  is  a  personal  relation,  which, 
therefore,  can  only  belong  to  one  of  the  Three  Divine 
Persons.  Hence,  the  union  of  the  divine  and  human 
natures  is  said  to  be  a  hypostatic — that  is,  a  personal 
union,  in  the  person  of  God  the  Son. 

What  it  really  means  is,  that  the  accomplishment 
of  this  mystery ;  the  effecting  of  the  Incarnation,  was 
the  work  of  the  Triune  God.  And  now,  we  must 
call  to  our  aid  another  principle,  which  seems,  at 


84  SERMONS   FOR  THE  YEAR 

first  sight,  at  variance  with  the  former.  This 
principle  is  the  appropriation  of  certain  works  and 
affects  to  one  or  other  of  the  Three  Divine  Persons, 
as  if  it  were  His  sole  work  or  eifect.  It  is  established 
by  the  constant  usage  of  Scripture;  and  is  sanctioned 
by  Catholic  theology.  Nor  is  it  at  variance  with 
the  former  principle.  For  it  does  not  mean  that 
such  a  work  is  wrought  by  one  Person  to  the  exclu- 
sion of  the  others;  but  only  that  the  work  is  attri- 
buted to  one  Person,  by  reason  of  the  special  connec- 
tion which  exists  between  that  work  and  the  relation 
by  which  the  divine  Person  subsists  as  a  distinct 
Person.  Thus,  when  it  is  said  that  we  are  sanctified 
by  God  the  Holy  Ghost,  this  does  not  mean  that 
God  the  Father,  and  God  the  Son,  are  not  equally 
the  cause  of  our  sanctification;  but  only  that  the 
work  of  sanctification  is  specially  attributed  to  the 
Holy  Ghost;  because  it  bears  an  intimate  relation 
to  the  manner  in  which  the  Holy  Ghost  proceeds 
from  the  Father  and  the  Son. 

Having  established  these  two  principles,  we  are 
now  better  able  to  understand  the  Apostle's  myster- 
ious words.  The  work  of  the  Incarnation  is  the  work 
of  the  One  God,  subsisting  in  Three  Persons.  But  in 
this  work,  the  manifestation  of  power  is  specially 
attributed  to  the  Father,  and  that  of  sanctification 
to  the  Holy  Ghost.  The  same  truth  is  enunciated 
by  the  Angel  Gabriel,  when  he  came  to  announce  to 
Mary  the  accomplishment  of  this  mystery,  for  he 
said:  "The  Holy  Ghost  shall  come  upon  thee,  and 
the  Power  of  the  Most  High  shall  overshadow  thee; 


CHRISTMAS  EVE  85 

and,  therefore,  also,  the  Holy  which  shall  be  born  of 
thee  shall  be  called  the  Son  of  God."  (Luke  I;  35.) 
Hence,  you  see,  my  dear  brethren,  that  when  to- 
morrow we  shall  be  summoned  to  adore  our  Infant 
Saviour,  we  shall,  in  that  mystery,  revere  the  power 
of  God  the  Father,  the  sanctifying  influence  of  the 
Holy  Ghost;  and  the  utterance  of  God  the  Son, 
making  known  to  us,  by  His  visible  Presence,  the 
hidden  things  of  God.  "The  Word,  who  is  in  the 
bosom  of  the  Father,  He  hath  made  it  known  to 
us."  (John  I;  18.) 

Oh!  my  brethren,  what  a  noble  and  inspiring 
thought  is  this,  that  when  we  bend  in  lowly  adora- 
tion before  the  crib  of  our  Infant  Saviour,  we  trace, 
in  those  childish  features,  the  Image  of  the  Father's 
Glory;  the  expression  of  His  eternal  Majesty  and 
Omnipotence;  that  it  is  the  divine  Omnipotence 
itself  which  has  wrought  this  work;  that  the  dove- 
like  wings  of  the  Holy  Spirit  hover  over  that  humble 
stall  with  unutterable  complacency;  that  that  poor 
stable  has  become  the  very  heaven  of  heavens,  in 
which  the  fullness  of  the  Godhead  dwells  corporally. 
(Col.  II;  9.) 

But,  my  brethren,  we  may  even  bring  these  mys- 
terious words  home  to  ourselves;  and  apply  them  to 
ourselves.  For  why  has  God  the  Son  made  Man? 
It  was  for  us  men,  and  for  our  salvation.  If,  then, 
the  Word  Incarnate  was  predestined  the  Son  of  God 
in  power,  according  to  the  Spirit  of  sanctification, 
it  was  for  our  sakes  that  we  might  be  predestined  to 
the  like  dignity.  Our  predestination  is  included  in 


86  SERMONS  FOR  THE  YEAR 

His.  "For  as  many  as  received  Him,  He  gave  them 
power  to  be  made  the  Sons  of  God."  (John  I;  12.) 
"Acknowledge,  then,"  cries  out  the  great  St.  Leo: 
"acknowledge,  Oh,  Christian!  thy  own  dignity;  and 
now  that  thou  hast  been  made  a  Son  of  God,  do  not 
degenerate  from  thy  high  calling,  by  relapsing  into 
thy  former  baseness,  through  unworthy  conversa- 
tion of  life." 

Yes,  my  brethren,  whatever  virtue  we  may  pos- 
sess, is  the  .,'rnit  of  the  divine  operation  within  us. 
By  the  grace  oi'  God  we  are  what  we  are.  You  are 
God's  husbandry,  says  St.  Paul,  in  another  of  hi;: 
mysterious  ut Frances  (I  Cor.  XV;  10;  III;  9),  that 
is  to  say:  Each  individual  soul  is  a  field  cultivated 
by  God  Himself.  There,  the  Power  of  the  Most 
High,  of  God  the  Father,  exerts  itself  to  make  the 
soil  of  our  heart  fruitful  in  every" ^ood  work;  there 
God  the  Son  labours  to  restore  within  us  that  image 
and  likeness  of  God  in  which  He  created  us  in  the 
beginning;  which  we  have  marred  and  defaced  by 
our  manifold  prevarications;  there,  the  Spirit  of 
sanctification  abides,  and  pours  out  His  seven-fold 
gifts  of  grace  and  holiness;  enriching  the  soul  with 
every  spiritual  gift. 

Let  us,  then,  during  the  coming  festival,  often 
meditate  on  these  great  truths;  and  strive  to  live 
up  to  the  high  standard  of  perfection,  which  is  be- 
fitting those  who  have  been  reserved  for  so  great  a 
destiny.  Let  us  look  upon  Him,  the  Author  and 
Finisher  of  our  faith;  and,  by  imitating  Him, let  us 
render  ourselves  worthy  of  this  high  vocation.  And 

r 


CHRISTMAS  EVE  87 

what  is  the  example  which  we  are  required  to  imi- 
tate? Ah!  my  brethren,  we  are  not  expected  to 
imitate  Him  in  His  creative  Omnipotence;  we  are 
not  required  to  create  worlds,  nor  to  launch  the  plan- 
ets into  space,  nor  to  control  the  elements,  nor  to 
work  miracles.  But  we  are  to  learn  of  Him  to  be 
meek  and  humble  of  heart.  And  who  is  there  who 
cannot  practice  such  a  lesson  as  this?  He  became 
a  little  child,  to  teach  us  that  we  too  must  become  as 
little  children,  if  we  are  to  enter  the  Kingdom  of 
Heaven.  He  came  into  this  world  naked  and  desti- 
tute, exposed  to  every  extremity  of  privation  and 
suffering;  in  order  to  teach  us,  by  His  example,  to 
embrace  that  poverty  of  spirit  which  alone  will 
entitle  us  to  the  possession  of  the  riches  of  the  eter- 
nal inheritance.  Oh!  how  happy  are  the  poor,  the 
destitute  and  the  afflicted;  in  that  they  are  able  so 
easily  to  imitate  the  example  of  the  Word  Incarnate. 
They  have  but  to  sanctify  the  state  hi  which  God 
has  placed  them,  by  cheerful  submission  to  the  de- 
crees of  His  Providence;  and  by  the  faithful  fulfill- 
ment of  all  their  duties  in  the  midst  of  the  hardships 
with  which  they  are  beset.  Far  harder  is  the  lot  of 
those  who  abound  in  this  world's  goods.  For  they 
too  must  strip  themselves  of  all  this  superfluity, 
and  become  poor  in  spirit,  that  they  may  be  true 
disciples  of  the  Word  Incarnate. 

May,  then,  the  Child  Jesus,  at  His  coming,  make 
us  all  partakers  of  His  predestination,  in  the  Power 
of  the  Father,  and  according  to  the  Spirit  of  sancti- 
fication;  that  we  may  be  in  truth  amongst  the  called 


88  SERMONS  FOR  THE  YEAR 

of  Jesus  Christ;  and  not  only  that,  but  also  amongst 
the  chosen  companions  of  His  glory  and  partakers 
of  His  eternal  bliss. 


CHRISTMAS. 

(Midnight,  Dec.  25.    From  the  Gospel.) 

"Behold  I  bring  you  good  tidings  of  great  joy,  thai 
shall  be  to  all  the  people.  For  this  day  is  born  to  you 
a  Saviour,  who  is  Christ  the  Lord. ' '  (Luke  1 1 ;  1 0, 1 1 . ) 

For  us,  too,  as  well  as  for  the  shepherds,  have  these 
good  tidings  been  brought  from  heaven.  For  us, 
as  well  as  for  them,  a  Saviour  is  this  day  born  in 
Bethlehem.  But  in  order  that  we  may  have  a  part 
in  these  good  tidings,  that  we  may  be  permitted  to 
adore  our  new-born  Saviour,  it  is  necessary  that  we 
should  imitate  the  dispositions  with  which  the  shep- 
herds received  these  tidings,  and  paid  their  adora- 
tion. And  what  were  these  dispositions?  These 
humble  shepherds  were  keeping  the  night-watches 
over  their  flocks  on  the  hill-side.  They  led  a  life 
of  labour,  of  poverty,  of  innocence,  of  heavenly  con- 
templation. They  were  not  skilled  in  this  world's 
learning;  they  were  not  puffed  up  with  conceit,  but 
their  hearts  were  simple,  sad,  pure  and  docile  to  the 
inspirations  of  God's  grace.  Such,  therefore,  should 
be  our  dispositions,  if  we  would  be  worthy  to  come 
and  adore  the  Babe  of  Bethlehem.  Their  simplic- 
ity and  unworldliness  were  rewarded  by  the  vision 
of  the  angelic  host,  and  their  ears  were  enraptured 


CHRISTMAS  89 

or  to  show  their  common  hospitality.  Oh!  wonder- 
ful mystery  of  humility,  when  shall  we  learn  to  ap- 
preciate it?  When  shall  we  cease  to  hanker  after 
those  luxuries  and  comforts  which  the  eternal  wis- 
dom has  taught  us  to  despise?  When  shall  we  learn 
to  love  that  poverty  and  humiliation  and  suffering, 
which  the  eternal  Wisdom,  by  His  own  example,  has 
taught  us  to  prize  as  the  greatest  of  blessings  ?  Such, 
my  brethren,  are  the  dispositions  with  which  we 
ought  to  approach  this  festival,  and  such  is  the  lesson 
we  are  to  learn  from  it.  Let  us  now  consider  what  is 
the  conclusion  to  which  the  proper  observance  of 
this  solemnity  leads. 

It  is  expressed  in  that  rapturous  exclamation  ot 
the  angelic  host:  "Glory  to  God  in  the  highest;  and, 
on  earth,  peace  to  men  of  good  will."  The  Glory  of 
God.  Behold  the  end  of  the  mystery  of  the  Incar- 
nation— to  make  reparation  to  the  offended  Majesty 
of  God;  to  make  manifest  the  infinite  treasures  of 
His  love,  His  Goodness,  His  Patience,  His  Wisdom, 
and  His  Power;  to  render  Him  homage,  honour,  and 
satisfaction  worthy  of  Himself.  "Peace  to  men  on 
earth."  This  is  why  these  tidings  are  so  joyful  to  us ; 
it  is  because  they  bring  us  news  of  peace.  Peace  with 
God,  by  the  reconciliation  which  our  Lord  Jesus 
Christ  makes  on  our  behalf;  redeeming  us  from  the 
bondage  of  sin,  and  restoring  us  to  the  adoption  of 
the  Sons  of  God.  Peace  with  one  another,  by  the 
example  of  divine  charity,  which  our  Lord  gives  us  in 
His  Nativity;  teaching  us  that, as  He  has  loved  us, 
even  when  we  were  His  enemies,  so  as  to  become  incar- 


90  SERMONS  FOR  THE  YEAR 

as  to  clothe  himself  in  our  human  nature.  This  is 
a  mystery  which  surpasses  our  comprehension;  that 
the  eternal  God,  who  inhabited  Light  inaccessible, 
who  is  a  pure  spirit,  infinite  in  all  perfections,  should 
have  condescended  to  take  a  human  soul  and  body 
and  unite  His  divinity  with  all  its  absolute  perfec- 
tions to  one  humanity  with  all  its  frailties  and  im- 
perfections; for  He  was  made  like  unto  us  in  all 
things,  except  only  sin.  (I  Tim.  VI ;  16.)  But  more 
than  this;  not  satisfied  with  annihilating  himself,  in 
taking  our  human  nature,  He  would  descend  to  the 
lowest  depth  of  humility,  to  which  it  was  possible  to 
go.  He  would  assume  our  nature  in  its  most  abject 
and  despicable  form.  So  that  when  the  shepherds 
were  bidden  to  go  and  worship  their  Saviour,  this 
was  the  sign  by  which  they  were  told  they  might 
recognize  Him.  "You  shall  find  the  Infant  wrapped 
in  swaddling  clothes,  and  laid  in  a  manger."  The 
eternal  God,  the  Lord  of  Heaven  and  earth,  the  King 
of  Kings — His  throne  is  a  manger,  His  royal  robes 
are  a  few  rags  wrapped  round  Him;  He  is  an  infant, 
which  means  one  that  is  speechless.  He  whose  very 
name  is  the  Word  of  God,  who  created  all  things  by 
His  only  Word  is  a  speechless  Babe.  He,  who  is 
Omnipotence  itself,  who  holds  all  things  in  the  hollow 
of  His  hand,  is  helpless  and  powerless  and  bound 
round  with  bands.  He  who  dwells  in  Light  inacces- 
sible, who  reposes  on  the  Cherubim,  is  laid  in  a 
manger,  the  companion  of  beasts,  dependent  on  them 
for  warmth  and  shelter;  because  His  own  creations, 
His  fellow-men,  refuse  to  admit  Him  to  their  homes, 


CHRISTMAS.  91 

with  the  heavenly  melody  of  the  angelic  hymn. 
The  strains  of  that  hymn  echo  still  around  the  crib 
where  our  Redeemer  lies.  The  angels  surround 
Him  now  as  of  old.  If  we  are  not  conscious  of  their 
presence;  if  we  do  not  hear  those  strains,  it  is  because 
of  our  worldliness,  of  our  sinfulness.  We  cannot 
have  our  conversation  both  here  and  in  heaven. 
(Phil.  Ill;  20.)  If  we  will  set  our  hearts  and  minds 
on  the  things  of  earth,  we  need  not  hope  to  be 
admitted  to  these  heavenly  consolations. 

And  what  are  the  tidings  of  joy  which  the  angel 
brings  to  the  shepherds?  "This  day  is  born  to  you  a 
Saviour."  Yes,  my  dear  brethren,  this  day.  Not 
merely  in  the  ages  long  past,  but  on  this  very  night; 
in  the  course  of  a  few  moments,  God  will  become 
incarnate  on  this  altar.  He  will  descend  once  more 
from  His  throne  in  Heaven,  and  will  dwell  amongst 
us,  in  a  still  more  humble  guise,  even  than  when  He 
was  wrapped  in  swaddling  clothes  in  the  crib  of 
Bethlehem.  Thus,  we  may  and  ought  to  enter  into 
the  spirit  of  this  solemnity,  with  the  same  ecstacy  of 
devotion  with  which  the  shepherds  came  to  adore 
Him. 

"There  is  born  to  you  a  Saviour;' 'that  is  to  us  who 
are  here  present.  He  excludes  no  one.  He  came  to 
save — not  the  angels,  nor  a  few  only  of  the  human 
race,  but  to  save  all  men.  For  us  men  and  for  our 
salvation.  He  became  incarnate.  And  who  is  He 
who  came  to  save?  He  is  Christ  the  Lord;  the  Lord 
and  Master  of  the  universe,  the  Creator  of  all  things, 
who  has  so  far  humbled  himself,  out  of  love  for  us, 


92  SERMONS  FOR  THE  YEAR 

nate  amongst  us;  so  we  also  should  love  one  another 
for  His  sake,  who  has  made  us  all  His  brethren, 
and  brethren  one  of  another.  Peace,  too,  with 
ourselves;  by  overcoming  our  unruly  passions;  by 
delivering  us  from  the  terrors  of  a  guilty  conscience ; 
and  restoring  us  to  that  peace  of  mind  and  conscience 
which  is  the  greatest  consolation  we  can  enjoy  on 
earth;  a  peace  which  surpasseth  all  understanding. 
(Phil.  IV;  7.)  But,  my  dear  brethren,  this  peace 
is  given  only  to  those  who  are  of  good  will;  who  are 
resolved  to  renounce  their  sins  and  sinful  habits, 
and  all  the  occasions  of  sin :  to  observe  faithfully  all 
God's  holy  commandments;  and  to  imitate,  in  their 
lives  and  actions,  the  example  which  has  been  given 
to  us  by  the  Babe  of  Bethlehem.  With  such  dis- 
positions as  these  in  your  hearts,  come,  my  dear 
brethren,  with  all  confidence,  and  implore  the  assist- 
ance of  His  grace,  that  your  will  may  be  strength- 
ened to  conform,  in  all  things,  to  His  most  holy  Will ! 
And  that  you  may  thus  be  made  partakers  of  this 
ineffable  peace;  and  blessed  with  every  heavenly 
benediction  by  Him  who  came  to  bestow  grace, 
peace  and  benediction  on  as  many  as  were  willing  to 
receive  it.  (John  I;  12.) 


93 

CHRISTMAS. 
^From  the  Lesson.) 

"The  peace  of  God  our  Saviour  hath  appeared  to  all 
men,  instructing  us,  that,  denying  ungodliness  and 
worldly  desires,  we  should  live  soberly  and  justly  and 
godly  in  this  world."  (Tit.  II;  11,  12.) 

On  this  most  holy  solemnity,  when  the  world  is 
given  up  to  festivity  and  rejoicing,  what  is  the  lesson 
which  the  Infant  Jesus  teaches  from  His  crib  to  all 
the  faithful  who  come  to  adore  Him  ?  It  is  the  lesson 
which  you  have  just  heard  from  the  mouth  of  the 
Apostle — contempt  of  the  world.  It  is  indeed  a 
strange  thing  that  the  world  should  choose  that  time 
for  rejoicing,  when  its  condemnation  was  most  em- 
phatically pronounced,  by  the  example  of  our  Lord 
and  Saviour,  Jesus  Christ.  It  is  to  the  consideration 
of  this  truth  that  I  wish  to  direct  your  attention 
now;  not,  indeed,  to  check  that  legitimate  joy,  which 
is  suitable  to  this  festival,  but  to  teach  you  how  to 
rejoice  by  the  consideration  of  the  mystery  which  is 
the  motive  of  our  rejoicing.  If,  then,  we  duly  medi- 
tate upon  this  mystery,  we  shall  find  that  our  rejoic- 
ing must,  in  truth,  be  in  accordance  with  the  apos- 
tolic precept;  namely,  that  "denying  ungodliness, 
and  worldly  desires,  we  should  live  soberly  and  justly 
and  godly  in  this  world." 

It  is  a  Christian  festival,  and  one  which  ranks 
amongst  the  highest  of  Christian  festivals;  because 
it  commemorates  the  manifestation  to  the  world  of 
the  mystery  of  redemption ;  the  mystery  of  the  Word 
made  Flesh.  Evidently,  then,  our  joy  must  be 


94  SERMONS    FOR  THE  YEAR 

wholly  of  a  Christian  and,  indeed,  supernatural 
character.  And  any  rejoicing,  which  is  not  in  har- 
mony with  this  spirit,  is  altogether  unworthy  of  the 
Christian  profession.  Let  us  dwell,  for  a  few  mo- 
ments, upon  the  incidents  which  took  place  in  the 
accomplishment  of  this  great  mystery. 

I  will  ask  you  to  carry  your  thoughts  back  to  what 
happened,  on  this  night,  nearly  nineteen  centuries 
ago.  The  scene  is  Bethlehem,  a  rude  hamlet,  once 
the  seat  of  the  royal  house  of  David;  but  now  ruined 
and  neglected,  by  reason  of  the  dispersion  of  its  oc- 
cupants, and  the  invasion  of  hostile  armies.  But, 
on  this  night,  its  unfrequented  streets  are  crowded 
with  throngs  of  people;  and  its  humble  dwellings  are 
besieged  with  applicants  for  shelter.  What  is  the 
occasion  of  this  unwonted  battle?  The  Roman 
Emperor,  Augustus,  has  ordered  a  census  to  be  taken 
of  his  vast  empire;  and,  in  obedience  to  his  edict 
every  one  had  to  go  to  the  home  of  his  ancestors, 
there  to  have  his  name  registered  in  the  census.  It 
was  in  this  way  that  divine  Providence,  who  controls 
the  counsels  of  princes,  had  ordained  that  it  should 
be  proved  to  the  world,  that  Jesus,  the  Son  of  the 
maiden  who  lived  at  Nazareth,  some  ninety  miles 
distant,  was  indeed  the  royal  house  of  David,  from 
which  it  had  been  foretold  that  the  Messiah  should 
spring. 

Let  us  look  at  these  throngs  of  people.  We  shall, 
no  doubt,  find  them  very  much  like  those  we  en- 
counter now-a-days;  very  much  like  ourselves. 
Everyone  is  pushing  his  way,  regardless  of  every  one 


CHRISTMAS  95 

else.  All  are  alike  intent  upon  seeking  their  own 
satisfaction  and  comfort.  Their  thoughts  are  alto- 
gether absorbed  in  the  things  of  this  world.  But, 
in  the  midst  of  this  crowd,  we  shall  at  length  discern 
two  persons  of  quite  a  different  aspect  from  all  the 
rest.  Their  names  are  Mary  and  Joseph.  They 
have  come  a  long  and  wearisome  journey;  they  are 
but  ill-provided  with  even  the  necessaries  of  life. 
For  Joseph  is  but  a  poor  working-man.  They  too 
are  in  quest  of  lodgings,  which  the  condition  of  Mary 
shows  to  be  sorely  needed.  For  the  days  were  now 
accomplished  that  she  should  give  to  the  world  the 
precious  Burden  which  she  had,  for  nine  months, 
carried  in  her  womb,  unknown  to  the  world;  unknown 
to  any  one  save  herself  and  St.  Joseph,  her  spouse, 
and  one  or  two  privileged  souls,  to  whom  the  counsels 
of  divine  Providence  had  been  revealed.  These  two 
poor  way-farers  are  jostled  and  hustled  about  in  the 
crowd.  They  are  driven  from  door  to  door.  The 
innkeepers  only  cast  on  them  a  glance  of  contempt, 
and  shake  their  heads,  when  Joseph,  with  tearful 
eyes,  craves  shelter  for  his  spouse.  According  to 
the  world's  practice,  their  accommodation  is  reserved 
for  the  more  wealthy  and  distinguished  guests. 
Such,  my  brethren,  is  the  judgment  of  the  world  now- 
a-days.  God,  and  His  chosen  favorites,  the  poor, 
are  denied  admittance  by  His  creatures.  "He  came 
unto  His  own;  and  His  own  received  Him  not." 
(John  I;  11)  (John  III;  19.)  For  "the  world  loves 
darkness  rather  than  the  light."  And  so,  weary 
and  footsore,  exhausted  in  strength,  and  well-nigh 


96  SERMONS  FOR  THE  YEAR 

perishing  with  cold,  hunger  and  fatigue,  Joseph  and 
Mary,  at  length,  turn  their  faltering  steps  away  from 
the  inhospitable  town,  and  seek  the  bleak  hill-side, 
in  the  midst  of  the  darkness  and  inclemency  of  that 
winter's  night.  At  last,  directed  by  divine  Provi- 
dence, they  find  a  cave,  where  beasts  were  sheltered ; 
and  there,  in  a  stable  of  brute  beasts,  more  hospit- 
able than  human  beings,  in  the  midst  of  squalor  and 
misery,  is  born  the  Saviour  of  the  world.  The  King 
of  Kings,  the  Lord  of  Lords,  the  Master  of  the  uni- 
verse after  having  claimed  in  vain  the  hospitality  of 
His  own  creatures,  is  laid  in  a  beast's  manger! 

My  dear  brethren,  if  this  had  happened  through 
sheer  necessity,  our  reflections  might  end  here  with 
indignation  at  the  inhumanity  of  the  world  in  thus 
treating  poor  out-casts.  But  there  is  a  far  deeper 
mystery  contained  in  it  than  this.  These  circum- 
stances, untoward  as  they  were,  were  pre-ordained 
from  all  eternity.  And  God  the  Son,  of  His  own 
free  will,  chose  to  be  born  into  the  world,  in  the 
midst  of  all  this  poverty,  destitution  and  suffering, 
in  order  to  teach  us  that  great  lesson,  contempt  of 
the  world.  He  is  the  eternal  Wisdom,  and  He  who 
made  everything,  knows  exactly  what  everything  is 
worth.  Hence,  in  deliberately  rejecting  wealth, 
honour,  dignity,  comfort  and  whatever  else  the  world 
prizes  and  admires,  and  in  choosing  for  His  own 
portion  poverty,  destitution,  suffering,  privation, 
ignominy,  and  whatever  else  the  world  shrinks  from 
and  abhors,  our  divine  Lord  has  left  us  an  example, 
that  as  He  has  done  we  also  should  do.  He  had  at 


CHRISTMAS  97 

His  command  all  the  wealth  and  grandeur  which 
this  world  could  boast  of;  for  they  were  all  His;  but 
he  renounced  them  all;  thereby  teaching  us  how 
worthless  and  contemptible,  in  reality,  are  those 
things  on  which  the  world  sets  such  store.  More- 
over, let  us  not  forget  that  Bethlehem  was  but  the 
beginning  of  a  life  of  hardship  and  suffering,  which 
was  continued  in  the  carpenter's  shop  of  Nazareth; 
up  and  down  the  hills  and  valleys  and  plains  of 
Palestine;  and  terminated,  at  last,  on  the  Cross  of 
Calvary.  There  can,  therefore,  be  no  possibility  of 
misunderstanding  the  meaning  of  this  mystery. 
Our  divine  Lord  has  distinctly  chosen  poverty  and 
suffering  and  ignominy  for  His  portion,  so  that  it  is 
only  through  poverty  and  suffering  and  shame  that 
we  can  become  at  all  like  unto  Him.  And,  most 
unquestionably,  our  happiness  hereafter  will  be 
measured  by  the  degree  in  which  we  have  been 
transformed  into  His  likeness. 

What  right,  then,  has  the  world  to  rejoice  on  this 
festival?  That  corrupt  world,  which  despises  pov- 
erty, which  dreads  suffering,  and  which  shrinks 
from  shame.  They  who  have  a  real  right  to  rejoice 
on  this  festival  are  the  poor,  and  the  afflicted,  and 
the  despised;  because  they  more  nearly  resemble 
the  Babe  of  Bethlehem.  But,  unhappily,  in  how 
many  cases  is  the  resemblance  only  a  superficial  and 
barren  one?  How  few  of  the  poor  and  afflicted  bear 
their  poverty  and  affliction  in  that  Christian  spirit 
of  resignation  and  conformity  to  the  divine  Will, 
which  will  enable  them  to  reap  the  abundant  fruits 


98  SERMONS  FOR  THE  YEAR 

of  their  poverty,  affliction  and  contempt  ?  It  matters 
nothing  to  be  poor,  if  you  have  not  the  spirit  of 
poverty.  "Blessed  are  the  poor  in  spirit,  for  theirs 
is  the  Kingdom  of  heaven."  (Matth.  V;  3.)  Just 
as  those  who  are  burdened  with  this  world's  wealth, 
may  really  be  poor  in  spirit,  by  being  indifferent 
whether  they  have  it  or  not,  and  by  voluntarily  re- 
linquishing it  for  the  sake  of  Christ's  poor  members ; 
so  those  who  are  destitute  may  lose  all  the  merit  of 
their  poverty,  by  repining  and  murmuring,  and 
hankering  after  that  which  they  have  not;  and  which, 
if  they  had  it,  would  perhaps  only  prove  a  snare  to 
their  souls. 

Let  all,  then,  derive  this  lesson  from  this  great 
solemnity;  for  it  is  a  lesson  which  all  ought  to  learn 
— contempt  of  the  world.  Those  who  have  the  sub- 
stance of  this  world,  more,  in  fact,  than  is  requisite 
for  their  absolute  wants,  let  them  bestow  abundantly 
thereof  on  the  poor.  And  let  them  not  wait  to  be 
asked;  but  rather  let  them  seek  out  the  poor;  lest 
their  wealth  should  bring  upon  them  that  inevitable 
curse  which  it  always  does  bring,  when  not  prop- 
erly dispensed,  hardness  of  heart,  and  blindness  of 
understanding.  And  let  the  poor  learn  to  prize 
their  poverty  as  a  precious  gift  and  grace  of  God, 
delivering  them  from  many  temptations;  and  ren- 
dering them  like  unto  the  Incarnate  God.  Let 
them  not  make  their  poverty  a  plea  for  the  neglect 
of  their  spiritual  duties.  Rather  should  it  be  an 
urgent  inducement  to  them  to  practice  those  duties 
more  fervently.  For  the  less  the  mind  is  occupied 


CHRISTMAS  99 

with  worldly  cares,  the  better  is  it  able  to  occupy 
itself  with  heavenly  things.  Assuredly,  then,  any 
one  who  will  faithfully  study  and  practice  this  one 
lesson  will  have  profited  well  by  this  solemnity  of 
the  Lord's  coming;  and  may  look  forward  with  joy- 
ful expectation  to  the  blessed  hope  and  coming  of 
the  Glory  of  the  great  God  and  our  Saviour,  Jesus 
Christ ;  when  He  shall  come  a  second  time,  to  reward 
the  just  with  everlasting  life.  (Tit.  II;  13.) 


CHRISTMAS. 

(Aurora.     From  the  Gospel.) 

"Let  us  see  this  Word  that  is  come  to  pass."  (Luke 
II;  15.) 

What  is  this  Word  that  has  come  to  pass,  my  dear 
brethren?  It  is  the  eternal  Word  of  God  become 
Mr.n.  Let  us  then  go  over  to  Bethlehem,  with  the 
shepherds,  and  sec  this  Word.  For  He  has  come 
to  bring  good  tidings  of  great  joy  to  all  those  who 
will  receive  them.  The  advent  of  Christmas  is 
hailed  by  the  whole  world  with  exclamations  of  joy. 
It  is  regarded  as  a  season  of  festivity  and  rejoicing. 
But,  let  us  ask  ourselves,  what  right  has  the  world 
to  rejoice;  and  what  is  the  cause  and  meaning  of  its 
festivity?  I  am  afraid  we  shall  find  that  the  world 
has  but  little  cause,  and  still  less  right  to  rejoice  at 
this  great  festival  of  Christmas.  For,  who  is  it  that 
is  this  day  born  in  Bethlehem ;  and  what  is  the  man- 
ner of  His  appearance  amongst  us?  And  who  are 


100  SERMONS   FOR  THE   YEAR 

they  who  are  invited  to  welcome  Him  on  His  arrival, 
and  to  participate  in  the  joy  of  His  coming?  Let 
us,  I  say,  ask  ourselves  these  questions;  for,  upon 
the  right  relation  of  them  will  depend  whether  we 
shall  be  found  worthy  to  rejoice  with  the  Church 
as  the  Church  rejoices,  or  whether  our  rejoicing  shall 
be  of  that  pagan  character  in  which  the  world  is 
wont  to  indulge  at  this  time.  I  do  not  wish  to  cen- 
sure that  innocent  rejoicing,  which  is  not  only  law- 
ful, but  conformable  to  the  spirit  of  the  Church. 
But  what  I  mean  is,  that  all  rejoicing  which  is  not 
founded  upon,  and  does  not  spring  from,  a  spiritual 
source,  from  a  devout  realization  of  the  mystery  of 
the  Word  Incarnate,  is  heathenish  and  derogatory 
to  the  Christian  vocation  to  which  we  have  been 
called. 

Who  is  it  that  is  this  day  born  in  Bethlehem? 
It  is  Christ,  the  Lord.  The  Second  Person  of  the 
adorable  Trinity,  consubstantial  with  the  Father, 
equal  to  Him  in  all  things,  being  one  and  the  same 
God  with  Him  and  the  Holy  Spirit.  Out  of  His 
infinite  love  and  condescension,  he  has  clothed  him- 
self in  our  human  nature,  thus  humbling  Himself, 
annihilating  Himself.  For,  is  it  not  annihilation 
for  the  Creator  to  divest  Himself,  as  it  were,  of  the 
Majesty  of  His  Divinity,  and  to  appear  in  the  lowly 
form  of  a  creature?  (I  Tim.  Ill;  16.)  This  is  that 
great  mystery  of  Godliness  of  which  the  apostle 
speaks,  the  depths  of  which  we  can  never  penetrate, 
which  has  rapt  the  Saints  of  all  ages  with  ecstacies 
of  love  and  admiration-  and  which  forms  the  bliss- 


CHRISTMAS  101 

ful  subject  of  their  contemplation  to  the  blessed  in 
heaven. 

But  equally  worthy  of  our  contemplation  is  the 
manner  of  His  coming.  Let  us  then  go  over  to 
Bethlehem,  and  see  how  His  Word  has  come  to  pass. 
We  might  have  thought  that  when  God  had  so  far 
humbled  Himself  as  to  take  upon  Himself  our 
nature,  He  would,  at  least,  have  invested  it  with  all 
the  majesty  which  it  is  capable  of  receiving.  We 
know  that,  under  the  old  dispensation,  God,  at  var- 
ious times,  made  His  presence  known  to  the  patri 
archs  and  prophets  by  apparitions,  and  through 
the  ministry  of  angels ;  and  that  the  glory  and  splen- 
dor of  those  visions  was  sufficient  to  strike  them  to 
the  earth,  and  would  have  deprived  them  of  life, 
had  they  not  been  supported  by  supernatural 
strength.  We  know  also,  that,  at  the  last  day, 
Christ  will  come,  in  great  power  and  majesty,  to 
judge  the  world.  But  how  did  He  come  to  redeem 
the  world?  A  visit  to  the  crib  of  Bethlehem  will 
reveal  the  whole  mystery,  in  its  naked  reality. 
There,  on  a  heap  of  straw,  in  the  manger  of  a  beast's 
stall,  open  to  the  winds  of  heaven,  lies  the  Saviour  of 
the  world,  the  Incarnate  God,  in  the  power  of  a  new- 
born Babe.  He  has  taken  on  Himself,  not  merely 
our  nature,  but  our  nature  in  its  meanest  form,  with 
all  its  infirmities,  its  miseries,  its  helplessness.  Al- 
though He  is  the  incarnate  Wisdom,  He  is  deprived 
of  the  power  of  speech.  He  "who  spake,  and  they 
were  made ;  who  commanded ,  and  they  were  created . ' ' 
(Ps.  XXXII;  9.)  He,  the  Maker  of  the  universe, 


102  SERMONS  FOR  THE  YEAR 

is  helpless  and  powerless;  for  He  is  swathed  in  bands. 
Although  He  is  the  supreme  Ruler  and  Controller 
of  all  things,  He  is  Himself  entirely  at  the  mercy 
of  His  creatures;  dependent  on  them  for  nourish- 
ment; for  warmth  and  clothing.  This,  my  brethren, 
is  the  example  which  the  Incarnate  God  has  given 
us,  in  His  Nativity,  of  humility,  of  poverty,  of  obe- 
dience, of  the  utter  abnegation  of  self,  and  of  every- 
thing that  can  flatter  and  please  the  senses.  Judge, 
now,  ye  Christians,  what  right  the  world  has  to  re- 
joice at  the  Coming  of  such  a  one  in  such  a  manner; 
the  world,  I  say,  which  is  eaten  up  with  pride, 
ambition  and  avarice,  self-indulgence  and  sensuality. 
Is  it  not  a  solemn  mockery,  calculated  to  draw  down 
God's  wrath  upon  Him,  for  the  world  and  its  votar- 
ies, who,  by  their  lives,  contradicted  this  great  ex- 
ample, to  pretend  to  rejoice  in  this  mystery  of 
humiliation,  in  Incarnation  of  God  the  Son  ? 

Next,  let  us  consider  what  they  are,  who  are  called 
to  welcome  our  Lord's  coming.  By  what  sort  of 
court  and  retinue  is  this  King  of  Kings  summoned? 
Poor  humble  shepherds,  keeping  the  night-watches 
over  their  flocks.  To  them  alone  is  the  heavenly 
secret  manifested  by  the  canticles  of  angles.  They 
were  indeed,  despised  by  the  world;  they  were  es- 
teemed rude,  ignorant,  despicable  and  altogether 
beneath  the  world's  notice.  Nevertheless,  it  was 
such  as  these  whom  God  chose  to  call  to  be  the  first 
to  adore  their  new-born  Saviour;  and  to  offer  Him 
the  simple  gifts  which  their  poverty  could  furnish. 


CHRISTMAS  103 

Now,  my  brethren,  what  I  particularly  wish  to 
impress  on  you  is  this:  It  is  as  true  now,  as  it  was 
then,  that  Christ,  this  very  day,  on  which  you  are 
listening  to  me,  is  born  in  Bethlehem;  and  Bethle- 
hem is  here  in  this  very  sanctuary,  as  I  will  show  you 
later  on.  And  you,  my  brethren,  are  the  shepherds, 
whom  He  summons,  by  his  angels,  to  pay  Him  your 
adoration.  But,  and  this  is  the  great  question, 
with  what  dispositions  do  you  come?  For,  unless 
you  come  possessed  of  the  simple,  humble,  fervent 
faith  and  piety  of  the  poor  shepherds,  you  will  not 
be  fit  to  present  yourselves  before  Him  who  lies  in 
that  crib.  If,  on  the  contrary,  you  are  possessed  by 
the  spirit  of  the  world,  hankering  after  the  world's 
pleasures  and  amusements,  the  spirit  of  pride  and 
ambition,  the  spirit  of  avarice,  of  self-complacency 
and  conceit,  of  vanity,  and  a  desire  to  please  and  to 
attract  the  notice  of  others,  by  tricks  of  manner  or 
of  dress;  if  you  are  given  to  intemperance,  or  sen- 
suality and  sins  of  the  flesh;  then,  I  say,  unless  you 
come  heart-broken  to  His  crib,  and  implore  for- 
giveness, and  promise  amendment,  how  can  your 
presence  be  anything  but  an  insult  and  an  outrage 
against  the  Babe  of  Bethlehem?  How  can  you  have 
any  part  whatever  in  the  legitimate  joys  of  Christ- 
mas? God  forbid  that  I  should  repel  any  one  from 
Him  who  came  to  see  and  to  save  that  which  was 
lost.  I  repel  no  one.  But  I  ask  you  to  come  and 
adore  Him  in  spirit  and  in  truth.  (John  IV;  24.) 

I  know  there  are  some  who  think  they  have  done 
quite  enough  in  coming  to  Mass  once  or  twice  in 
the  year;  that  their  presence  at  Mass,  on  Christmas 


104          SERMONS  FOR  THE  YEAR 

Day,  is  a  sufficient  profession  of  their  faith,  and 
satisfies  their  obligation  of  rendering  due  worship 
to  Almighty  God;  that  it  is  enough  to  atone  for  a 
whole  year,  spent  in  sin,  and  in  the  violation  of  God's 
commandments.  I  know  very  well  there  is  no  one 
who  would  say  this  in  so  many  words;  but,  what  I 
say  is,  that  this,  and  nothing  but  this,  is  what  their 
conduct  practically  means.  Yes,  unhappily,  there 
are  many  such  so-called  Christians,  who  will  be  found 
at  Mass,  on  this  most  solemn  day  of  all  the  year; 
whilst  the  rest  of  the  year,  Sunday  and  week-day, 
is  spent  in  drunkenness,  impurity,  profanity,  and 
the  neglect  of  all  their  religious  duties.  They  come 
without  attempting  to  reconcile  themselves  with 
God,  without  any  purpose  of  amendment.  If  there 
be  any  such  here,  let  me  exhort  them  to  enter  ser- 
iously into  themselves,  and  to  make  this  day  the  be- 
ginning of  a  new  life. 

I  will  now  explain  why  I  said  that  this  sanctuary 
is  the  true  Bethlehem;  and  that  Christ  is  born  on 
this  day  in  very  truth.  The  name  Bethlehem  means 
House  of  Bread;  and  the  Word  of  God,  who  is  the 
living  Bread  that  come  down  from  heaven,  becomes 
Incarnate  this  day,  on  our  altar,  during  the  holy 
Mass.  (John  VI;  51.)  Hence,  you  see,  this  sanc- 
tuary is,  in  very  truth,  Bethlehem;  the  house  of 
Him  who  is  the  Bread  of  Life.  "For  the  Bread  that 
I  will  give  is  my  Flesh,  for  the  life,  the  world." 
(52.)  In  fact,  the  mystery  of  the  holy  Eucharist, 
in  a  sense,  surpasses  that  of  the  Incarnation;  inas- 
much as,  in  the  latter  mystery,  the  Godhead  was 


CHRISTMAS  105 

tiidden  under  the  form  of  our  human  nature;  whilst 
in  the  holy  Eucharist,  both  the  Divinity  and  the 
human  nature  are  hidden  under  the  forms  of  the 
eucharistic  elements.  ,  So  that  we  have  the  same 
opportunity,  as  the  Shepherds  had,  to  exercise  our 
faith,  our  piety  and  our  devotion.  They  saw  but  a 
Babe,  and  they  adored  their  God.  We  adore  our 
God  under  a  still  more  lowly  guise.  But  is  our 
faith  and  our  devotion  at  all  comparable  to  theirs? 
If  we  have  not,  as  yet,  felt  our  hearts  moved  by  the 
contemplation  of  this  touching  mystery  of  divine 
Love,  let  us,  at  least,  approach  Him  on  our  knees, 
and  beg  for  the  grace  of  devotion.  He  will  not  fail 
to  give  us  what  we  ask.  But,  then,  we  must  be 
generous  with  Him,  if  we  would  have  Him  to  be 
liberal  with  us.  We  must  offer  Him  our  gifts — 
gifts  such  as  He  values  most.  And  what  are  they? 
A  contrite  and  humble  heart;  a  willingness  to  re- 
nounce whatever  has  hitherto  been  an  occasion  of 
sin  to  us;  whatever  our  failing  may  have  been, 
whether  neglect  of  our  duties,  or  intemperance,  or 
sensuality,  or  evil-speaking,  or  a  spirit  of  worldli- 
ness.  Let  us  resolve  to  renounce  these  sins,  and 
the  voluntary  occasions  of  them;  and  lay  the  offer- 
ing at  His  feet.  And  we  shall  not  fail  to  reap  the 
fullness  of  His  blessing;  and  to  partake  in  the  true 
and  substantial  joys  which  He  alone  can  communi- 
cate. Thus,  we  shall  return  from  this  festival,  like 
the  shepherds,  glorifying  and  praising  God,  for  all 
the  things  we  have  heard  and  seen. 


106  SERMONS  FOR  THE  YEAR 

CHRISTMAS 

(Aurora.     From  the  Lesson.) 

"The  goodness  and  kindness  of  God  our  Saviour 
hath  appeared."  (Tit.  Ill;  4.) 

You  have  come,  my  dear  brethren,  this  morning,  to 
adore  your  new-born  Saviour  in  His  humble  crib. 
You  have  heard  the  song  of  the  angels,  awakening 
the  echoes  of  the  slumbering  earth,  and  borne  along 
the  midnight  air.  "Glory  to  God  in  the  highest,  and 
peace  on  earth  to  men  of  good  will."  You  have 
heard  that  song,  I  say,  not  with  the  outward  sense 
of  hearing,  but  with  the  inward  attention  of  the  de- 
vout mind.  You  have  heard  it,  I  hope ;  for  you  have 
come  hither  in  answer  to  that  summons,  announcing 
to  you  tidings  of  great  joy;  that  this  day  is  born  to 
you  a  Saviour,  who  is  Christ  the  Lord.  And  you  have, 
like  the  shepherds,  said  one  to  another;  "Let  us  go 
over  to  Bethlehem;  and  let  us  see  this  Word  that  has 
come  to  pass,  which  the  Lord  hath  showed  to  us." 
You  have  heard  that  voice,  and  you  have  obeyed  it. 
But,  unhappily,  how  few  comparatively  are  they 
who  hear  and  obey  it!  As  it  was  on  this  morning 
nearly  nineteen  centuries  ago,  so  has  it  always  been, 
and  so  is  it  now. 

For  it  is  not  merely  the  commemoration  of  some 
past  fact,  that  we  are  met  to  celebrate.  No,  the 
mystery  we  honour  this  day  is  something  ever  fresh, 
ever  new.  Jesus  Christ  yesterday,  and  to-day,  and 
the  same  for-ever.  (Heb.  XIII;  8.)  And  the  graces 
of  this  Christmas  are  as  real  and  as  abundant  as  on 


CHRISTMAS  107 

the  first  Christmas  morn.  But,  alas!  it  is  equally 
true  that  the  coldness  and  ingratitude  of  man  are  as 
great  as  on  the  first  Christmas  morn,  when  our  Lord 
came  unto  His  own,  and  His  own  received  Him  not. 
(John  I;  2.)  Christ  is  born  in  Bethlehem,  whilst 
the  whole  world  is  wrapped  in  slumber  and  indiffer- 
ence. Only  a  few  humble  shepherds  are  found  to 
listen  to  the  angel's  hymn;  to  come  and  adore  their 
new-born  .Saviour;  to  find  Mary  and  Joseph,  and  the 
Infant  lying  in  a  manger.  Let  us,  then,  meditate,  a 
few  moments,  on  this  great  revelation,  that  was 
made  to  the  shepherds;  consider  their  conduct;  and 
make  our  own  resolutions,  in  accordance  with  the 
fruit  of  that  meditation. 

First,  let  us  thank  God,  that  He  has  hidden  these 
things  from  the  wise  and  prudent,  and  has  revealed 
them  to  little  ones.  (Luke  X;  21.)  Jesus  is  born 
in  poverty;  is  nurtured  in  poverty;  lives  in  poverty; 
preaches  the  gospel  to  the  poor,  and  dies  in  poverty. 
No  wonder,  then,  that  He  who  loved  poverty  so  much 
should  have  chosen  to  reveal  Himself  to  the  poor,  by 
preference.  Hence,  my  brethren,  if  you  wish  to  be 
made  partakers  of  this  heavenly  trust,  to  be  the  com- 
panions of  Mary  and  Joseph,  to  be  invited  by  angels 
to  come  and  adore  the  Infant  Jesus,  you  must  em- 
brace the  state  of  poverty.  "Blessed  are  the  poor 
in  spirit,  for  theirs  is  the  Kingdom  of  Heaven." 
(Matth.  V;  3.)  They  who  are  burdened  with  this 
world's  wealth  must  renounce  all  inordinate  attach- 
ment to  their  riches;  a  most  difficult  thing  to  do;  and 
must  be  prepared  to  sacrifice  them  for  Christ's  sake; 


108  SERMONS  FOR  THE  YEAR 

who,  for  their  sake,  became  poor.  They  who  are 
poor  in  this  world's  substance  must  thank  God  for 
the  great  favour  which  He  has  bestowed  upon  them, 
in  condescending  to  make  them  like  Himself;  and 
they  must  bear  their  lot  of  poverty,  with  all  its  dis- 
comforts and  inconveniences,  not  only  with  patience, 
but  even  with  joy ;  because  it  saves  them  from  many 
temptations ;  and  makes  the  way  to  heaven  for  them 
smooth  and  easy.  How  hardly  shall  they  that  have 
riches  enter  into  the  Kingdom  of  heaven!  (Matth. 
XIX;  23.) 

Having  embraced  this  state  of  holy  poverty,  at 
least  in  the  dispositions  of  our  heart,  we  may  then 
hope  to  be  admitted  to  the  divine  presence,  where 
God  is  enthroned.  His  throne  is  in  keeping  with  the 
poverty  which  He  came  to  consecrate.  It  is  a  man- 
ger filled  with  straw.  His  royal  court  consists  of  a 
poor  artizan,  a  humble  maiden,  the  ox  and  the  ass 
that  share  with  Him  the  rude  shelter  of  that  rugged 
stall.  By  and  by,  that  retinue  is  swelled  by  the 
poor  shepherds,  who  have  left  their  flocks  on  the  hill- 
side, in  order  to  come  and  pay  their  adoration  to 
Him.  If  then,  my  dear  brethren,  you  have,  by 
God's  grace,  attained  to  this  poverty  of  spirit;  if  you 
have  cast  off  all  inordinate  attachment  to  this  world, 
with  its  pomps  and  vanities;  if  you  have  despised 
those  sensual  gratifications,  with  which  the  senseless 
world  is  wont,  at  this  holy  season,  to  outrage  the  God 
of  poverty  and  mortification;  if  you  have  kept  the 
watches  of  this  holy  Christmas  night,  not  in  rioting 
and  drunkenness,  not  in  revelry  and  sensuality,  but 


CHRISTMAS  109 

in  prayer  and  the  humble  confession  of  your  sins ;  in 
the  devout  expectation  of  the  coming  of  the  great 
God  and  our  Saviour,  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ;  (Tit.  II; 
13.)  If,  I  say,  you  have  done  all  this;  then,  come 
with  all  confidence  to  Bethlehem;  and  you  will  find 
Mary  and  Joseph  ready  to  welcome  you,  and  the 
divine  Infant  will  stretch  out  His  little  arms  to  em- 
brace you ;  and  will  bestow  upon  you  His  inestimable 
grace. 

For,  my  brethren,  none  are  excluded  from  the 
graces  of  this  festival,  provided  they  approach  with 
due  dispositions.  The  greatest  of  sinners  may  come 
before  Him,  with  perfect  impunity,  if  only  they  will 
come  contrite  and  resolved  to  sin  no  more.  In- 
deed, it  was  for  their  sakes  that  He  came  into  this 
world;  and  it  is  especially  sinners,  whom  He  sweetly 
invites,  to  lay  their  sins  at  His  feet,  and  to  receive 
from  Him  the  adoption  of  His  Brotherhood.  "For 
as  many  as  received  Him,  He  gave  them  power  to 
be  made  the  Sons  of  God."  (Joh.  I;  12.)  Let  no 
one  say,  then,  my  dear  brethren,  that  the  shepherds 
were  more  highly  favoured  than  ourselves.  Let  no 
one  say,  that  Bethlehem  is  too  far  removed  from  us; 
that  we  are  not  privileged,  like  the  shepherds,  to  hold 
in  our  arms  and  to  embrace  the  Infant  Jesus.  For 
all  these  glorious  privileges,  are,  in  truth  as  much 
ours  as  theirs. 

Bethlehem  means  the  House  of  Bread.  Here,  then, 
at  this  holy  altar,  the  table  is  spread.  Here  is  that 
eucharistic  banquet  distributed — the  living  Bread 
which  came  down  from  heaven.  (John  VI;  51.) 


110          SERMONS  FOR  THE  YEAR 

Hence,  every  altar  throughout  the  world  is  a  true 
Bethlehem ;  and  here,  not  merely  in  figure,  as  in  that 
poor  representation  of  our  I/ord's  Nativity,  but  in 
very  reality,  the  Word  is  made  Flesh  upon  our  altar; 
the  mystery  of  the  Incarnation  is  reproduced;  and, 
as  when  Mary  pronounced  the  words:  "Be  it  done  to 
me,  according  to  thy  word;"  (Luke  I;  38.)  the  eternal 
Word  descended  into  her  chaste  womb,  and  became 
Incarnate  amongst  us;  so,  when  the  lips  of  the  priest 
pronounce  the  words  of  consecration — the  same 
eternal  and  unchanging  God  descends  upon  our  altar ; 
and  in  the  very  reality  of  His  Flesh  and  Blood,  His 
Soul  and  His  Divinity  becomes  present  in  our  midst, 
to  receive  our  adoration,  to  hear  our  petitions,  to 
give  Himself  to  be  our  good,  our  life,  our  strength, 
our  pledge  of  everlasting  happiness.  All  these  graces 
my  dear  brethren,  are  ours,  if  we  will  but  choose  to 
accept  them.  Shall  we  then,  by  our  sinfulness,  by 
our  criminal  indifference,  render  ourselves  unworthy 
of  such  great  favours?  Unquestionably,  the  graces 
of  a  festival  are  in  proportion  to  its  rank  and  dignity. 
And,  since  the  solemnity  of  Christmas,  yields  to  none 
in  the  liturgical  year,  in  point  of  rank  and  dignity, 
it  follows  that  the  most  abundant  and  precious 
graces  are  showered  down,  at  this  most  holy  season, 
upon  all  those  who  are  disposed  to  receive  them. 
Shall  we,  then,  deprive  ourselves  of  all,  or  even  of 
some  of  these  graces,  by  any  defect  of  disposition  on 
our  part?  Or,  what  is  worse  still,  shall  we  profane 
this  great  solemnity,  by  any  sinful  excesses?  When 
the  very  meaning  of  it  is  that  God  became  Man,  in 


CHRISTMAS  111 

order  to  teach  us,  by  His  own  example,  that  the  way 
to  heaven  is  by  self-denial,  by  mortification  of  the 
flesh,  by  poverty  of  spirit. 

No,  my  dear  brethren,  I  trust  that  your  presence 
here  this  morning  is  a  proof  that  you  understand  the 
mystery  aright.  That,  if  you  have  hitherto  indulged 
in  the  vices  of  the  world,  now,  at  least,  you  will  seek 
your  reconciliation  in  the  sacrament  of  penance,  if 
you  have  not  already  done  so;  and  seal  that  recon- 
ciliation by  the  holy  Communion  of  the  Body  and 
Blood  of  your  new-born  Saviour.  Others,  who  are 
strangers  to  the  holy  faith,  may  keep  Christmas  as  a 
worldly  faith;  they  may  go  to  Church  or  Chapel, 
because  it  is  a  time-honoured  custom  to  do  so ;  they 
may  bestow  their  charities  on  the  poor,  because  they 
have  kept  also  this  vestige  of  the  ancient  faith 
amongst  them.  But  to  you  who  are  in  full  posses- 
sion of  that  glorious  heritage  of  faith,  Christmas 
means  a  great  deal  more  than  all  this.  Through 
those  holy  mysteries  which  have  been  explained  to 
you,  you  are  brought  into  the  very  sanctuary  of  the 
Crib  of  Bethlehem,  and  you  are  brought  into  imme- 
diate contact  with  the  living  Bread — the  Word  made 
Flesh;  if  only  you  will  dispose  yourselves,  to  co- 
operating with  the  grace  of  God,  to  partake  in  those 
holy  mysteries.  May  the  grace  of  our  Infant  Saviour 
so  touch  our  hearts,  and  open  the  eyes  of  our  minds, 
that  we  may,  on  this  solemnity,  learn  the  lesson  of 
poverty,  of  humility,  of  charity,  which  He  teaches 
us  by  His  example.  And  may  He  move  us  to  imitate 
that  example,  that  so  we  may  heaceforth  walk  in 


112  SERMONS  FOR  THE  YEAR 

newness  of  life,  (Rom.  VI;  4)  that  through  that 
renovation  wrought  by  the  Holy  Ghost,  whom  He 
hath  poured  forth  upon  us  abundantly,  we  may  be 
justified  by  His  grace,  and  become  heirs  of  His 
heavenly  Kingdom,  according  to  the  hope  of  life 
everlasting. 


CHRISTMAS. 

(Mid-day.     From  the  Gospel.) 

"And  the  Word  was  made  Flesh,  and  dwelt  among 
«s."  (John  I;  14.) 

The  fullness  of  time  has  come,  my  dear  brethren, 
so  long  foretold  by  the  prophets.  The  eternal  Word, 
the  Second  Person  of  the  adorable  Trinity,  has  left 
the  bosom  of  the  Father,  and  come  down  to  this 
earth  of  ours,  and  taken  on  Himself  our  human 
nature.  Jesus  Christ,  this  day,  is  born  in  Bethle- 
hem, who  shall  be  to  us  a  Saviour;  and  we  are  come 
to  adore  Him.  This  is  why  we  are  met  here  to-day, 
my  brethren;  for  no  less  a  purpose  than  to  keep  that 
festival  which  is  the  foundation  of  all  our  hopes, 
and  the  source  of  all  our  happiness — the  Incarna- 
tion of  our  Lord  and  Saviour,  Jesus  Christ.  And 
what  is  the  meaning  of  that  great  mystery?  The 
meaning  is  explained  to  us  in  the  words  of  this 
gospel:  "The  Word  was  made  Flesh,  and  dwelt 
among  us." 

This  sublime  truth  St.  John  learned  as  he  reclined 
on  our  Lord's  bosom  at  the  Last  Supper.  This 
mystery  is  the  corner-stone  of  the  edifice  of  divine 


CHRISTMAS  113 

revelation;  the  centre  of  all  Christian  doctrine  and 
worship.  The  same  Apostle  considers  a  belief  in 
this  mystery,  with  all  its  consequences,  as  the  test 
of  a  true  Christian.  "Who  is  a  liar  but  he  who 
denieth  that  Jesus  is  the  Christ;  this  is  Anti-Christ, 
who  denieth  the  Father  and  the  Son."  (I  John 
II;  22.)  St.  John  begins  his  gospel  with  the  eternal 
generation  of  the  Word  in  the  bosom  of  the  Father. 
He  then  proceeds  to  this  outward  manifestation  in 
time  which  again  is  two-fold;  first,  by  the  creation 
of  the  world;  and  secondly,  by  His  Incarnation 
and  assumption  of  our  nature  from  the  blessed 
Virgin  Mary. 

"In  the  beginning  was  the  Word,  and  the  Word 
was  with  God,  and  the  Word  was  God.  The  same 
was  in  the  beginning  with  God."  St.  John  wrote 
this  gospel  in  order  to  uphold  the  faith  in  the  divinity 
of  Jesus  Christ,  which  already,  at  that  early  period, 
had  begun  to  be  impugned  by  various  sects.  See 
with  what  clearness  he  declares  the  truth  which, 
as  he  himself  says:  "We  have  heard,  which  we  have 
seen  with  our  eyes,  which  we  have  looked  upon,  and 
our  hands  have  handled,  of  the  Word  of  Life.  For 
the  Life  was  manifested,  and  we  have  seen  and  do 
bear  witness,  and  declare  unto  you  the  life  eternal 
which  was  with  the  Father,  and  hath  appeared  to 
us."  (I  John  I;  1,  2.)  According  to  St.  John, 
therefore,  there  are  Two  Persons,  really  distinct 
from  each  other.  He  does  not  here  speak  of  the 
Third  Person,  because  his  object  was  only  to  estab- 
lish the  distinct  Personality  of  Jesus  Christ  as  God. 


114  SERMONS  FOR  THE  YEAR 

But  how,  my  brethren,  shall  we  comprehend  this 
mysterious  generation  of  the  Second  Person  from 
the  First?  The  scripture  says:  "Who  shall  declare 
this  generation?"  (Is.  LIU;  8.)  Let  us  then 
humbly  bow  down  our  intellects,  and  submit  to  the 
teaching  of  divine  Wisdom,  knowing  that  we  are 
utterly  incapable  of  understanding  the  mysteries 
of  the  Godhead.  Nevertheless,  we  may  try  to  under- 
stand why  St.  John  calls  the  Second  Person  of  the 
adorable  Trinity  the  Word.  The  Word  is  the  ex- 
pression of  our  ideas;  or  rather,  it  is  the  idea  itself 
expressed.  Now  the  divine  Idea  is  the  divine  Mind; 
and  the  divine  Mind  is  the  divine  Nature;  because, 
in  God,  the  attributes  are  not  distinct  from  the  sub- 
stance; it  is,  then,  God  Himself.  Hence,  the  Father, 
knowing  Himself  from  all  eternity,  conceives  a  per- 
fect Idea  of  Himself,  which  Idea  is  God ;  so  that  that 
Idea  or  Word  subsists  eternally  as  God,  the  same  as 
the  Father,  as  to  Nature,  distinct  from  Him  as  to 
Person.  Now,  mark  the  consequence  of  this.  As 
the  Son  is  the  eternal  Word  of  God,  perfectly  re- 
flecting the  image  of  the  divine  Nature,  in  the  inter- 
ior operation  of  the  Godhead ;  so  also  is  He  the  Word 
in  its  exterior  operations.  Therefore,  the  Psalmist 
sings:  "By  the  Word  of  the  Lord,  the  heavens  were 
established."  (Ps.  XXXII;  6.)  When  God  de- 
creed to  create  the  world,  that  decree  was  the  ex- 
pression of  the  divine  mind.  It  was  the  Word  of 
God,  the  Second  Person  of  the  adorable  Trinity. 
Hence,  the  creation  of  the  world  and  all  that  is  in 
the  world,  was  the  outward  manifestation,  in  time, 


CHRISTMAS  115 

of  that  inward  act  by  which  the  Son  eternally  pro- 
ceeds from  the  Father  as  the  eternal  Word.  But, 
not  content  with  this  manifestation  of  Himself,  by 
the  works  of  His  hands,  He  would  manifest  Himself 
in  a  still  more  wonderful  way.  He  who  is  one  with 
the  Father  and  the  Spirit,  as  to  the  divine  nature, 
would  also  become  one  with  His  own  creatures,  as 
to  human  nature;  that  so,  we  might  be  transformed 
into  Him,  and  become  partakers  of  the  divine  na- 
ture. Such  is  the  teaching  of  Scripture;  Oh  in- 
effable mystery!  "God  so  loved  the  world,  as  to 
give  His  only-begotten  Son."  (Joh.  Ill;  16.)  And 
in  the  last  hours  of  His  life,  Our  Lord  thus  prayed 
to  His  heavenly  Father:  "That  they  all  may  be  one, 
as  Thou,  Father,  in  Me,  and  I  in  Thee;  that  they 
also  may  be  one  in  Us;  I  in  them,  and  Thou  in  Me; 
that  they  may  be  made  perfect  in  one,  and  that  the 
world  may  know  that  Thou  hast  sent  Me,  and  hast 
loved  them,  as  Thou  hast  also  loved  Me."  (Joh. 
XVII;  21,  23.)  Yes,  my  brethren,  the  same  love 
which  the  Father  bears  to  the  Son,  He  extends  to 
us;  and,  for  that  love,  God  became  incarnate.  We 
keep  to-day,  then,  the  festival  of  Incarnate  Love; 
of  the  infinite,  eternal  Love  of  God,  made  manifest 
in  the  Flesh. 

Why  was  God  incarnate?  He  Himself  gives  us 
the  reason,  when  He  says:  "I  am  the  Way  and  the 
Truth,  and  the  Life."  (John  XIV;  6.)  He  is  the 
model  and  example  according  to  which  we  ought  to 
walk.  He  is  the  way,  and  there  is  no  other.  If  we 
go  astray  from  Him,  we  are  assuredly  lost;  and 


116  SERMONS  FOR  THE  YEAR 

what  sort  of  example  has  He  given  us?  Look  at 
that  Crib,  and  see.  Behold  your  Saviour  and  your 
model;  a  poor,  shivering,  helpless  Infant.  This, 
then,  is  the  perfection  of  our  nature;  and  this  is  the 
perfection  we  must  aim  at.  "Amen,  I  say  unto 
you,  unless  you  become  as  little  children,  you  shall 
not  enter  into  the  Kingdom  of  heaven."  (Matth. 
XVIII;  3.) 

Again,  He  is  the  Truth;  the  eternal  Truth.  With- 
out faith  in  His  Word,  there  is  no  salvation.  For 
this  cause,  "came  I  into  the  world  that  I  should  give 
testimony  to  the  Truth."  (John  XVIII;  37.)  He 
came  amongst  us  to  reveal  the  Truth.  And  He  gave 
testimony  to  the  Truth,  and  sealed  that  testimony 
with  His  precious  Blood.  That  testament  of  Truth 
He  committed  to  the  keeping  of  His  Church;  and 
every  one  that  believes  not  that  testimony  shall  be 
condemned.  (Mark.  XVI;  15.)  "Lord,  to  whom 
shall  we  go?  Thou  hast  the  words  of  eternal  life." 
(John  VI;  69.) 

Yet  again,  He  is  the  Life.  As  the  branch  cannot 
live,  unless  it  cleave  to  the  stem,  so  we  also  cannot 
live,  unless  we  are  engrafted  on  that  saving  stock, 
the  Tree  of  Life,  whose  grace  is  the  spiritual  sap 
that  nourishes  us,  and  makes  us  fruitful  in  good 
works.  That  divine  Life  is  communicated  to  our 
souls,  chiefly  through  the  sacrament  of  the  holy 
Eucharist;  that  living  bread  which  came  down  from 
heaven,  and  gives  life  to  the  soul.  Jesus,  in  the 
Crib,  hides  His  divinity  from  us  in  the  form  of  our 
poor  humanity.  But  Jesus  in  the  tabernacle,  hides 


CHRISTMAS  117 

from  us  even  that  humanity,  under  the  form  of  cor- 
poral food.  Love,  infinite  Love,  is  the  cause  of 
both  mysteries.  And  shall  not  love  like  this  meet 
with  return  of  love? 

Do  not,  then,  allow  this  beautiful  festival  to  go 
by  without  making  an  effort  to  advance  somewhat 
in  the  love  of  God ;  to  approach  a  little  nearer  to  our 
divine  Model;  to  earn  some  additional  glory  in  heaven. 
Let  us  endeavor  to  throw  off  our  coldness,  our 
tepidity,  our  indifference,  and  mistrust.  This  is  of 
all  Feasts,  the  happy  Feast;  the  Feast  of  joy  and 
confidence.  The  just  should  approach  that  he  may 
be  still  more  justified:  (Apoc.  XXIV;  11)  the  sinner 
that  he  may  be  purified  from  his  sins;  even  the 
hardened  sinner,  that  his  heart  may  be  softened  by 
divine  grace.  What  is  there  to  be  afraid  of?  Let 
the  sinner  approach  the  Crib  of  Bethlehem;  let  him 
be  the  greatest  sinner  on  the  face  of  the  earth;  and 
what  will  he  find  there?  A  harmless  Babe,  smiling 
on  all  alike  whether  friend  or  foe.  In  the  words  of 
the  great  St.  Augustine:  "Let  men  and  women  re- 
joice; for  both  sexes  have  been  honoured  in  Christ 
and  His  Mother.  A  woman  brought  death  unto  us; 
a  woman  brought  forth  life  for  us.  Let  the  just 
rejoice,  it  is  the  birth-day  of  the  Justifier.  Let  the 
weak  and  sickly  rejoice;  it  is  the  birth-day  of  the 
Healer.  Let  the  captive  rejoice;  it  is  the  birth-day 
of  the  Deliverer.  Let  the  bondsman  rejoice;  it  is 
the  birth-day  of  the  Master.  Let  the  free  rejoice; 
it  is  the  birth-day  of  Emancipation.  Let  all  Chris- 
tians rejoice;  it  is  the  birth-day  of  Christ.  He,  who 


118  SERMONS  FOR  THE  YEAR 

holds  the  world  together,  lies  in  the  manger,  a  speech- 
less Babe,  the  eternal  Word.  He  whom  the  heavens 
cannot  contain,  is  borne  at  a  woman's  breast.  Our 
King  is  subject  to  her;  He,  in  whom  we  live,  is  car- 
ried by  her.  She  nourished  Him  who  is  our  Food. 
Oh!  weakness,  Oh  wonderful  lowliness!  Wherein 
the  whole  divinity  then  lay  hid.  He,  by  His  Power, 
ruled  her  to  whom  His  Infancy  was  subject.  He 
nourished  with  His  Truth  her,  at  whose  breasts  He 
Himself  was  nourished.  May  He  accomplish  in  us 
His  designs,  who  shrank  not  from  taking  on  Him- 
self our  infancy.  And  may  He  make  us  the  Sons  of 
God,  who,  for  our  sakes,  willed  to  become  the  Son 
of  Man."  (Serm.  184  in  Natal.,  I.)  Thus  far  St. 
Augustine. 

The  Evangelist  tells  us  that:  "As  many  as  re- 
ceive Him,  to  them  He  gave  power  to  become  the 
Sons  of  God."  Let  us  then  open  our  hearts  to  re- 
ceive Him;  but  let  us  take  care  that  our  heart  be 
purified  from  sin  by  penance.  "Wisdom  will  not 
enter  into  a  malicious  soul,  nor  dwell  in  a  body 
subject  to  sins."  (Wisd.  I;  4.)  This  is  why  the 
Church  has  summoned  you  during  Advent  to  purify 
your  hearts,  by  a  penitential  preparation,  for  our 
Lord's  coming.  And  only  those  who  have  thus 
prepared  themselves  are  worthy  to  participate  in 
the  joys  of  Christmas.  Join,  then,  my  brethren,  in 
the  joyful  accents  with  which  the  Church  greets  our 
Infant  Saviour.  Come  often  to  visit  Him,  as  He 
lies  in  the  Crib;  and  let  the  warmth  of  your  heart's 


CHRISTMAS  119 

devotion  comfort  Him,  as  He  lies  shivering  in  the 
cold  of  the  world's  neglect. 

Then,  indeed,  may  you  hope,  one  day,  to  say  with 
the  apostle  St.  John:  "We  have  seen  His  glory; 
the  Glory  as  it  were,  of  the  only-begotten  of  the 
Father;"  which  Glory  will  be  revealed  to  you,  in 
all  its  plenitude,  when  you  shall  come  to  enjoy  His 
beatific  Vision  in  heaven. 


CHRISTMAS. 

(Mid-day.     From  the  Lesson.) 

"To  which  of  the  angels  hath  He  said  at  any  time: 
'Thou  art  my  Son;  to-day  have  I  begotten  Thee?'  ' 
(Hebrew  I;  5.) 

"Glory  to  God  in  the  highest:  and,  on  earth,  peace 
to  men  of  good  will."  Such  is  the  joyful  tidings, 
which  the  choir  of  angels,  on  this  day,  announces  to 
the  shepherds,  and  through  them  to  the  whole  human 
race.  For,  "On  this  day  is  born  to  us  a  Saviour, 
who  is  Christ  the  Lord."  (Luke  II;  11.)  Let  us, 
then,  my  dear  brethren,  go  over  to  Bethlehem,  with 
these  simple  shepherds,  and  see  the  Word  which  is 
come  to  pass.  Let  us  kneel  with  them  before  that 
humble  Crib,  and  adore  the  divine  Infant,  wrapped 
in  swaddling  clothes,  and  lying  upon  straw;  and  let 
us  contemplate  the  wonderful  mystery  which  un- 
folds itself  before  our  eyes. 

There  lies  the  Incarnate  Word,  the  true  and  living 
God,  the  Second  Person  of  the  adorable  Trinity, 
who  hides  Himself  under  the  form  of  that  poor 


120  SERMONS  FOR  THE  YEAR 

little  Infant.  St.  John,  the  beloved  disciple,  does 
not  leave  us  in  doubt  who  that  child  is;  for  he  says: 
"By  this  is  the  Spirit  of  God  known;  every  spirit 
which  confesseth  that  Jesus  Christ  is  come  in  the 
flesh,  is  of  God.  And  every  spirit,  that  dissolveth 
Jesus,  is  not  of  God;  and  this  is  Anti-Christ."  (I 
John  IV;  2,  3.)  Again:  "Whosoever  shall  confess 
that  Jesus  is  the  Son  of  God,  God  abideth  in  him, 
and  He  in  God."  (15.)  "Whosoever  believeth 
that  Jesus  is  the  Christ,  is  born  of  God."  (I  John 
V;  1.)  "Who  is  he  that  overcometh  the  world,  but 
he  that  believeth  that  Jesus  is  the  Son  of  God?" 
(5.)  "He  that  believeth  in  the  Son  of  God,  hath  the 
testimony  of  God  in  himself.  He  that  believeth 
not  the  Son,  maketh  Him  a  liar."  (10.)  Now, 
my  brethren,  why  all  this  solicitude  of  the  apostle 
to  enforce  this  truth,  if  this  doctrine  be  not  the  very 
foundation  on  which  the  rest  of  our  faith  is  built? 
Let  us  then  humbly  enter  into  the  consideration  of 
this  mystery,  as  it  is  revealed  to  us  in  the  holy 
gospel. 

The  child  whom  we  adore,  has  for  nine  months, 
made  His  home  in  the  womb  of  His  Immaculate 
Mother.  Him,  the  King  of  Kings,  and  Ix>rd  of  the 
Universe,  we  behold  an  outcast  upon  the  earth 
which  He  made.  His  own  creatures  have  driven 
Him  from  their  doors;  and  He  is  compelled  to  crave 
hospitality  and  shelter  from  the  beasts  of  the  field. 
What  a  lesson  is  this  for  our  pride,  for  our  world- 
liness;  for  our  self-love?  He,  whom  we  adore  in 
the  Crib,  is  the  Incarnate  Wisdom,  who  knows  all 


CHRISTMAS  121 

things,  and  the  worth  of  all  things;  for  He  made  all 
things.  If,  then,  we  find  that  on  coming  into  the 
world,  He  chose,  for  His  own  portion,  poverty,  suffer- 
ing, privation  and  ignominy;  surely,  then,  the  world 
must  be  mistaken  in  thinking  these  tilings  evil;  and 
surely,  it  must  be  mistaken  in  esteeming  wealth 
and  pleasure  and  comfort  and  reputation  as  good 
things.  The  world  is  mistaken.  The  Crib  of  Beth- 
lehem is  a  standing  reproof  of  the  world.  By  its 
poverty  and  humility  and  utter  destitution,  it  con- 
founds the  pride  and  ostentation  of  the  world.  It 
condemns  those  who  deem  themselves  rich  and  noble 
and  learned.  Whilst,  on  the  other  hand,  it  is  a 
haven  of  consolation  for  all  whose  portion  is  like  our 
Lord's  in  poverty  and  suffering  and  humiliation. 

Such  is  the  spirit,  my  dear  brethren,  in  which  we 
ought  to  approach  the  Crib  of  Bethlehem;  and  in 
which  we  ought  to  keep  this  joyful  festival  of 
Christmas ;  a  spirit  which  is  required  of  all  who  hope 
to  inherit  the  Kingdom  of  heaven.  "Blessed  are 
the  poor  in  spirit,  for  theirs  is  the  Kingdom  of 
heaven."  (Matth.  V;  3.)  Let  us  not  then  be 
scandalized  at  the  poverty  of  the  Crib.  Rather,  let 
it  strengthen  our  faith  in  the  Divinity  that  dwells  in 
Christ  corporally.  (Col.  II;  9.)  He  is  one  and  the 
same  God  with  the  Father;  one  in  Nature,  distinct 
in  Person.  St.  John  tells  us  that  the  Word  was  in 
the  beginning  with  God ;  or,  as  he  says  in  his  epistle, 
with  the  Father.  Thus,  clearly  does  he  teach  the 
Oneness  of  the  divine  Nature,  when  he  goes  on  to 
say:  "And  the  Word  was  God."  The  eternal  Word 


122  SERMONS  FOR  THE  YEAR 

is,  in  truth,  that  very  divine  substance  of  which  He 
is  the  Expression.  The  eternal  Son  is,  in  truth, 
that  very  divine  nature  from  which  His  eternal 
generation  proceeds.  The  Son,  therefore,  subsists 
the  eternal  and  perfect  image  of  the  divine  Sub- 
stance, because  He  is  identically  that  One  divine 
Being,  which  the  Father  is.  For  the  Father,  know- 
ing Himself  from  all  eternity,  in  that  contemplation 
begets  the  Son,  who  is,  therefore,  as  the  apostle  says : 
"The  brightness  of  His  Glory  and  the  Figure  of  His 
Substance. ' '  (Hebr.  I ;  3. )  But  we  must  not  under- 
stand by  this,  that  the  Son  is  in  anyway  inferior; 
for  all  in  the  divine  Nature  is  unity,  because  all  is 
infinitude.  The  distinction  is  only  in  the  Persons; 
the  Father  is  not  the  Son,  nor  the  Son  the  Father. 
But  the  Father  is  what  the  Son  is,  and  the  Son  is 
what  the  Father  is. 

See,  now,  my  dear  brethren,  to  what  a  depth  of 
humiliation  this  God  of  Majesty  has  reduced  Him- 
self, so  that  none  might  be  hindered  from  coming 
to  do  Him  homage.  I/et  those,  then,  who  are  poor 
indeed,  who  are  afflicted,  who  are  lowly  and  des- 
picable in  the  eyes  of  the  world ;  let  them  come  with 
all  joy  to  the  Babe  of  Bethlehem,  being  assured  that 
He  will  recognize  in  them  the  features  of  His  true 
followers.  Those,  again,  who  are  not  so  privileged, 
who  are  burdened  with  this  world's  wealth,  with  its 
honour  and  its  esteem;  let  them  first  lay  down  their 
burdens  before  they  enter  the  stable  of  Bethlehem. 
Let  them  attire  themselves  in  the  rags  of  poverty; 
and  if  they  are  deemed  wise,  let  them  become  fools 


CHRISTMAS  123 

for  Christ's  sake;  and  so  they  will  be  admitted  into 
the  heavenly  company  which  forms  the  court  of  our 
new-born  Saviour.  And  if  we  ask  ourselves,  what 
is  the  reason  of  this  humiliation  of  the  Word  Incar- 
nate, the  answer  is  to  be  found  in  the  sacred  liturgy 
of  the  Church;  it  was  "for  us  men,  and  for  our  sal- 
vation," that  He  became  Incarnate,  that  the  Word 
was  made  Flesh,  that,  in  becoming  man,  He  took 
the  form  of  a  slave,  of  an  outcast  in  the  eyes  of  men. 
It  was  to  teach  us  that,  as  we  fell  through  pride  and 
sensuality,  so  we  can  be  restored.  And,  as  He 
would  not  ask  us  to  run  counter  to  all  our  natural 
inclinations  and  to  do  violence  to  ourselves,  unless 
He  first  gave  us  the  example;  hence,  it  is  here  in  the 
stable  of  Bethlehem,  that  God  made  Man  gives  us 
the  first  lesson  in  the  way  of  salvation;  and  begins 
His  mission  to  the  world,  by  giving  it  an  example  of 
the  renunciation  of  all  things,  which  human  nature 
loves  and  desires. 

Thus,  my  brethren,  on  this  holy  festival  is  God 
glorified.  Thus,  is  peace  proclaimed  to  men  of 
good  will.  Glory  is  given  to  God,  whose  divine 
attributes  have  been  outraged  by  our  sins,  by  our 
self-indulgence,  by  our  pride  and  sensuality.  The 
example  of  our  blessed  Lord  teaches  us  to  deny  our- 
selves, to  renounce  those  sinful  pleasures;  to  subdue 
that  lofty  pride;  and  so  to  glorify  God  by  the  due 
submission  of  all  our  faculties  to  His  sovereign  will. 
Moreover,  it  restores  peace  to  men  of  good  will;  for, 
tho'  this  message  of  peace  comes  to  all,  and  is  offered 
to  all,  it  can  only  be  accepted  by  those  who  have  a 


124  SERMONS  FOR  THE  YEAR 

good  will,  who  are  resolved  to  break  the  chains  of 
evil  habits,  and  to  be  reconciled  to  God;  and  it 
brings  peace  to  such  as  these,  by  releasing  them  from 
the  bondage  of  sin,  and  restoring  them  to  the  liberty 
of  the  adoption  of  the  Sons  of  God.  Peace  can  only 
be  obtained  through  reconciliation;  and  He  alone 
can  reconcile  all  things,  who  made  all  things.  (Eph. 
I;  5.)  St.  John  says:  "all  things  were  made  by 
Him,  and  without  Him  was  made  nothing  that  was 
made."  All  things  that  are,  then,  subsist  in  the 
Word  of  God,  in  the  Second  Person  of  the  adorable 
Trinity.  In  Him  alone,  therefore,  can  they  find 
reconciliation,  and  the  peace  which  is  the  fruit  of 
that  reconciliation. 

Our  Ix>rd  says:  "Whosoever  commiteth  sin,  is 
the  servant  of  sin;  if,  therefore,  the  Son  shall  make 
you  free,  you  shall  be  free  indeed."  (John  VIII; 
34,  36.)  But,  my  brethren,  this  peace  of  a  good 
conscience,  which  surpasseth  all  understanding,  and 
this  freedom  from  the  bondage  of  sin,  can  only  be 
enjoyed  by  those  of  good  will;  that  is,  who  are  will- 
ing to  submit  themselves  to  the  yoke  of  Christ 
(Phil.  IV;  7)  who  are  resolved  to  renounce  all  the 
occasions  of  sin;  and  who  prepare  themselves  duly 
for  the  reception  of  those  holy  sacraments,  which 
are  able  to  cleanse  the  soul  from  all  the  stains  of  sin, 
to  replenish  it  with  heavenly  grace,  and  to  restore  us 
once  more  to  the  privilege  of  being  the  children  of 
God.  "Behold  what  manner  of  charity,  the  Father 
hath  bestowed  upon  us,  that  we  should  be  called 
and  should  be  the  Sons  of  God."  (I  John  III;  1.) 


CHRISTMAS  125 

"Oh,  Christian!"  cries  out  the  great  St.  Leo:  "Oh, 
Christian!  recognize  thy  own  dignity;  and,  being 
made  partaker  of  the  divine  nature,  do  not  relapse 
into  thy  former  baseness,  by  a  degenerate  life. 
Remember  of  what  manner  of  head  and  body  thou 
art  d  member ;  remember  that  thou  hast  been  snatched 
from  the  power  of  darkness,  and  translated  into 
the  light  of  the  Kingdom  of  God." 

By  this  great  mystery  of  the  Incarnation,  the 
human  race  has  been  raised  from  its  deep  degrada- 
tion, and  restored  to  its  former  dignity.  Nay,  it  has 
been  exalted  above  angels  and  arch-angel,  to  the 
very  throne  of  God,  as  the  apostle  points  out  in  the 
words  of  our  text.  Oh,  my  brethren,  when  shall  we 
learn  our  own  dignity  ?  When  shall  we  cease  to  defile 
with  sin  those  bodies  which  are  the  members  of 
Jesus  Christ  ?  The  festival  of  Christmas  will  indeed 
be  a  joyful  one  to  those  who,  forsaking  their  evil 
ways,  reconcile  themselves  with  God  in  the  sacra- 
ment of  penance,  and  seal  that  reconciliation  with 
the  holy  Communion  of  the  Body  and  Blood  of 
Christ.  It  is  through  this  great  mystery  of  Love 
that  we  are  brought  face  to  face  with  the  mystery  of 
the  Incarnation.  If  we  are  not  privileged  to  behold 
with  our  eyes  the  Babe  of  Bethlehem:  God,  in  the 
form  of  an  Infant;  yet  we  are  at  least  privileged  to 
behold  the  same  God  under  the  sacramental  species. 
Nay,  we  are  permitted  even  to  receive  Him  into  our 
breasts;  to  nourish  ourselves  with  that  divine  Food; 
and  so  to  become  one  with  Him;  that  so  it  might  be 
fulfilled  which  is  written :  " As  many  as  received  Him, 


126  SERMONS  FOR  TME  YEAR 

to  them  He  gave  power  to  be  made  the  Children  of 
God." 


ST.  STEPHEN, 

PROTOMARTYR.* 
(Dec.  26th.    From  the  Gospel.) 

"Behold,  I  send  to  you  prophets  and  wise  men  and 
scribes;  and  some  of  them  you  will  put  to  death  and 
crucify,  and  some  you  will  scourge  in  your  syna- 
gogues, and  persecute  from  city  to  city."  (Matth. 
XXIII;  34.) 

Yesterday,  my  dear  brethren,  we  were  summoned 
to  the  Crib  of  Bethlehem,  to  pay  our  homage  to  the 
Incarnate  Word,  who,  in  the  power  of  an  Infant,  has 
come  to  redeem  and  save  the  world.  To-day,  the 
Church  invites  you  to  accompany  ,the  intrepid  St. 
Stephen  before  the  Sanhedrim  of  the  Jews,  his 
accusers  and  judges;  and  bids  you  look  upward  with 
him;  and  there  you  will  see  the  heavens  opened,  and 
the  Son  of  Man  standing  on  the  right  hand  of  God; 
standing,  that  is  to  say,  prepared  to  judge  those  un- 
just judges,  and  to  crown  His  first  martyr.  That 
Son  of  God,  whom  we  yesterday  adored  in  the 
Manger,  and  the  Son  of  Man,  whom  we  to-day  be- 
hold at  the  right  hand  of  the  Majesty  on  high,  are 
one  and  the  same  Person.  So  short,  my  brethren, 


"[Following  the  order  of  the  Missal  and  Breviary,  the  sermons 
for  the  Feasts  of  Saints  which  fall  in  Christmas  week,  are 
inserted  here  among  the  sermons  *de  tempore.'] 


ST.  STEPHEN  127 

is  the  transition  from  one  scene  to  the  other.  For, 
with  Him  "one  day  is  as  a  thousand  years,  and  a 
thousand  years  are  as  one  day."  (II  Pet.  Ill;  8.) 
Nor  can  we  consider  the  transition,  in  any  sense,  an 
abrupt  one.  The  festival  of  to-day  is  but  the  con- 
sequence and  development  of  the  mystery  we  con- 
templated yesterday.  It  reminds  us  that  the  stable 
of  Bethlehem  is  but  the  first  stage  of  a  long  and  pain- 
ful journey,  whose  goal  is  the  Cross  of  Calvary. 

It  is  well  that  we  should  surrender  ourselves 
wholly  to  the  spiritual  joys  of  Christmas-tide;  and 
meditate  continually  on  the  beautiful  lessons  which 
that  holy  mystery  teaches  us.  But  let  us  not  forget 
that  the  Babe  of  Bethlehem  will  not  always  remain 
a  Babe;  that  we  shall  soon,  very  soon,  have  to  fol- 
low Him  into  the  desert,  there  to  undergo  His  fast 
of  forty  days,  and  to  be  tempted  by  the  devil;  that 
we  shall  see  Him  bound  with  cords,  buffeted  and  spit 
upon,  scourged  with  whips,  crowned  with  thorns, 
and  nailed  to  an  ignominious  cross.  Therefore, 
the  festival  of  St.  Stephen  comes  opportunely  to 
remind  us  of  all  this,  to  nerve  us  for  the  coming 
conflict,  to  encourage  us  to  fight  the  good  fight,  that 
we  may,  like  him,  obtain  the  crown  of  life.  Let  us 
then,  dwell  a  little  upon  what  is  related  to  this  holy 
martyr  in  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles,  in  order  that  we 
may  thence  derive  some  instruction  for  our  own 
conduct  in  this  spiritual  conflict. 

We  celebrate,  then,  on  this  day,  the  feast  of  St. 
Stephen,  the  first  martyr  to  the  Christian  faith,  the 
first  who  sealed  that  faith  with  his  blood,  the  first 


128  SERMONS  FOR  THE  YEAR 

fruits  of  that  redemption,  which  our  Lord  Jesus 
Christ  has  purchased  for  us,  the  first  to  whom  the 
portals  of  heaven  were  opened,  the  first  admitted 
to  that  throne  of  glory,  which  our  Lord  has  promised 
to  and  prepared  for  His  faithful  followers.  The 
Apostles,  finding  themselves  much  embarrassed,  and 
hindered  in  the  discharge  of  their  spiritual  functions, 
by  the  duty  of  providing  for  the  temporal  necessities 
of  the  poor  members  of  their  flock,  resolved  upon 
creating  a  body  of  men  whom  they  called  deacons, 
that  is,  ministers  who  should  relieve  them  of  these 
temporal  cares.  Seven  were  chosen,  of  whom 
Stephen  was  the  first  and  chief.  And  he,  who  was 
chosen  to  act  in  the  humble  capacity  of  minister, 
appears  at  once  before  us,  as  first  and  foremost  in 
apostolic  zeal,  preaching  the  gospel,  and  confuting 
its  opponents  with  irresistible  might.  For  he  was 
full  of  faith  and  the  Holy  Ghost.  The  holy  spirit 
that  inspired  him,  could  not  be  restrained  within 
the  narrow  bounds  of  his  ministry,  and  he  springs 
forth  into  the  arena,  armed  at  all  points,  as  the 
champion  of  the  gospel,  ready  to  seal  his  testimony 
with  his  blood. 

Such,  my  dear  brethren,  were  the  fruits  of  St. 
Stephen's  conversion;  such  the  effect  which  the 
divine  gift  of  faith  had  wrought  in  his  soul.  You, 
my  brethren,  have  received  the  same  gift;  not  an- 
other or  similar  one,  but  one  and  the  self  same  grace 
of  faith;  where  is  its  fruit,  and  what  are  its  effects 
on  your  souls?  The  far-famed  schools  of  Alex- 
andria, of  Cyrene,  of  Tarsus,  sent  their  ablest  repre- 


ST.  STEPHEN  129 

sentatives  to  dispute  with  Stephen:  but  in  vain. 
"They  could  not  resist  the  wisdom  and  the  spirit 
that  spoke."  You  will  observe  that  it  was  not 
Stephen,  but  the  Spirit  who  spoke  in  him.  And  you, 
too,  my  brethren,  have  received  of  the  same  Spirit; 
not  another  but  one  and  the  self -same  Spirit;  for 
the  Spirit  of  God  is  one.  You  have  been  signed 
and  sealed  in  that  holy  Spirit,  the  Spirit  of  wis- 
dom and  of  understanding,  the  Spirit  of  counsel 
and  of  fortitude,  the  Spirit  of  knowledge  and  of 
godliness,  and  the  Spirit  of  the  fear  of  the  Lord." 
(Is.  XI;  2,  3.)  Never  was  there  a  time  when  that 
sevenfold  Spirit  was  more  needed  by  the  faithful 
than  the  present.  That  synagogue  of  Satan,  the 
world  around  us,  has  put  up  its  ablest  disputants,  it 
has  ransacked  its  most  famous  armouries  of  irrelig- 
ion,  of  scepticism,  of  blasphemy,  to  find  weapons 
with  which  to  attack  the  Church  of  Christ.  And 
what  should  be  our  attitude?  My  brethren,  if  we 
trust  to  the  arm  of  flesh,  if  we  fight  the  world  with 
its  own  weapons,  if  we  rely  upon  our  own  prudence, 
and  sagacity,  we  shall  certainly  be  overcome.  But 
if,  like  St.  Stephen,  we  put  on  the  armour  of  God, 
the  shield  of  faith,  the  breast-plate  of  religion,  we 
shall  easily  resist  the  fiery  darts  of  the  evil  one. 

The  Jews,  finding  the  holy  Levite  invincible,  that 
there  was  no  flaw  in  his  spiritual  armour,  proceeded 
to  adopt  their  usual  tactics;  they  suborned  wit- 
nesses to  testify  they  had  heard  him  blaspheme 
against  the  holy  place,  and  against  the  law.  And 
so,  now-a-days,  a  corrupt  world  accuses  the  follow- 


130  SERMONS  FOR  THE  YEAR 

ers  of  Christ  of  subverting  the  law,  and  all  that  it 
chooses  to  hold  sacred;  because,  forsooth,  their  life 
and  practice  are  a  standing  protest  against  its  own 
errors  and  corruptions.  Whilst  these  accusations 
were  being  hurled  at  St.  Stephen,  they  of  the  council 
who  sat  in  judgment  upon  him,  looking  upon  him, 
"saw  his  countenance,as  it  were,  the  face  of  an  angel." 
Now,  how  did  St.  Luke  know  this?  Granted  that 
it  was  so,  is  it  likely  that  they  would  ever  have  ad- 
mitted a  fact  so  damaging  to  their  credit?  Well, 
as  it  happens,  St.  Luke  had  the  most  unimpeachable 
authority  for  his  statement.  One  of  those  iniquitous 
judges,  nay,  one  of  the  foremost  in  thirsting  for  the 
blood  of  the  martyr ;  one  of  the  most  furious  in  goad- 
ing on  the  executioners,  to  do  their  cruel  work,  was 
Saul,  afterwards  known  as  Paul,  the  great  doctor  of 
the  Gentiles.  St.  Luke  was  his  disciple;  and  it  is  to 
the  information  supplied  by  St.  Paul,  an  eye-witness 
and  accomplice  in  the  facts,  that  we  are  indebted 
for  this  instructive  narrative.  What  was  it,  then, 
which  lit  up  the  face  of  the  martyr  with  such  radiant 
effulgence?  Did  he  see,  in  that  vision,  the  countless 
army  of  martyrs,  who  like  himself,  should  wash 
their  robes  in  the  Blood  of  the  Lamb?  Did  he  see 
in  prophetic  vision  his  brother-Levites,  Lawrence 
and  Vincent;  the  chaste  spouses  of  Christ,  Cecily 
and  Agnes,  Lucy  and  Agatha;  the  soldiers  of  Christ, 
Sebastian,  and  George  and  Maurice;  the  mitred 
martyrs,  Polycarp,  Ignatius  and  Cyprian;  the  long 
line  of  pontiffs,  to  whom  the  chair  of  Peter  became 
a  throne  of  martyrdom.  We  may  well  suppose 


ST.  STEPHEN  131 

that  he  saw  all  this,  and  his  face  was  radiant  with 
joy  at  that  glorious  vision.  But,  at  least,  we  know 
something  which  he  certainly  saw,  and  which  is 
sufficient  to  account  for  his  joy.  "He  saw  the 
Glory  of  God,  and  Jesus,  standing  at  the  right  hand 
of  God."  So  full  was  he  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  that 
he  was  transported  out  of  himself,  lifted  up  above 
all  the  reach  of  his  natural  faculties;  his  eagle  glance 
was  fixed  unflinchingly  upon  the  Sun  of  Justice;  he 
stood  already  amidst  the  angelic  hosts;  already  he 
grasped  the  palm  of  victory,  and  felt  his  brow  en- 
circled by  the  never-fading  crown.  No  wonder  that 
his  features  caught  the  glow  of  that  beatific  vision ; 
that  he  began  to  resemble  those  whose  companion 
he  was  henceforth  to  be. 

"We,  too,  my  dear  brethren,  must  glorify  and  bear 
God  about  in  our  bodies:"  (I  Cor.  VI;  20)  that  is, 
our  bodies,  as  well  as  our  souls,  must  be  the  living 
counterpart  of  our  blessed  Lord.  But  I  must  now 
hurry  on  to  the  closing  scene  of  this  first  Act  of  that 
great  Christian  drama,  the  Acts  of  the  Martyrs. 
The  words  which  St.  Stephen  had  uttered  were  his 
death-warrant.  His  furious  adversaries,  stopping 
their  ears  at  what  they  imagined  to  be  blasphemy, 
flung  themselves  upon  him,  and  could  hardly  re- 
strain themselves  from  tearing  him  to  pieces  on  the 
spot.  They  dragged  him  forth  by  the  City  gate; 
and,  once  outside  the  sacred  precincts,  they  pro- 
ceeded to  execute  upon  him  the  terrible  punishment 
of  the  blasphemer,  by  stoning  him  to  death.  And 
they  stoned  Stephen,  crying  and  saying:  "Jesus, 


132  SERMONS  FOR  THE  YEAR 

receive  my  spirit."  And  whilst  the  pitiless  stones 
fell  upon  him,  bruising  and  mangling  his  comely 
form,  he  fell  upon  his  knees  and  cried  with  a  loud 
voice,  saying:  "Lord,  lay  not  this  sin  to  their 
charge."  And  when  he  had  said  this  he  fell  asleep 
in  the  Lord;  and  so  the  first  Christian  martyr  fol- 
lowed his  Lord  and  Captain,  through  trial  and 
suffering,  through  calumny  and  persecution,  through 
tortures  and  death;  followed  him  faithfully  through 
all  this  and  thus  followed  Him  to  triumph  and 
victory.  And  this  example  we  also  must  follow, 
if  we  hope  to  obtain  the  same  course  of  victory. 

Let  us  also  learn  from  St.  Stephen's  bright  exam- 
ple, how  to  pardon  our  enemies  and  persecutors; 
to  pray  for  them;  for  such  an  heroic  act  of  charity 
will  not  fail  to  meet  its  reward.  In  St.  Stephen's 
case,  it  was  rewarded  by  the  conversion  of  St.  Paul; 
the  greatest  conversion  ever  achieved.  Thus,  we 
shall  not  know,  until  the  end,  how  many  jewels  have 
been  interwoven  in  our  crown,  through  the  prayers 
we  have  offered  for  them  that  persecute  and  calum- 
niate us.  (Matth.  V;  44.)  Finally,  take  courage 
from  St.  Stephen's  example  to  fight  the  good  fight 
which  lies  before  you.  (I  Tim.  VI;  12.)  Remem- 
ber that  you  are  the  off-spring  of  the  martyrs;  that 
you  serve  the  same  Lord;  that  you  aspire  to  the 
same  crown.  Persevere  with  God's  grace  in  main- 
taining the  struggle  against  the  enemies  of  your 
soul,  the  devil,  the  world  and  the  flesh.  Strive  to 
advance  daily  from  virtue  to  virtue,  and  let  us  con- 
vince ourselves,  once  for  all,  of  this  great  truth, 


ST.  STEPHEN  133 

that  all  who  would  live  piously  in  Christ  Jesus, 
must  suffer  persecution.  Let  us  utterly  get  rid  of 
the  notion,  that  we  can  live  on  good  terms  with  this 
world,  and  at  the  same  time,  claim  the  inheritance 
of  the  saints.  "Have  confidence,"  says  our  blessed 
Lord,  "I  have  overcome  the  world."  (Joh.  XVI; 
33.)  Let  us  also,  by  the  grace  which  He  will  give 
us,  overcome  the  world,  that  we  may  be  able  to  say 
with  St.  Paul:  "I  have  fought  the  good  fight,  I 
have  finished  my  course,  I  have  kept  the  faith;  for 
the  rest,  there  is  laid  up  for  me  a  crown  of  justice, 
which  the  Lord,  the  just  Judge,  will  render  to  me  in 
that  day."  (II  Tim.  IV;  8.) 


ST.   STEPHEN 

(From  the  Lesson.) 

'Stephen,  full  of  grace  and  fortitude,  did  great 
wonders  and  signs  among  the  people"  (Acts.    VI;  8.) 

Yesterday,  my  dear  brethren,  we  hastened  with 
the  shepherds,  to  the  crib  of  Bethlehem;  to  see  the 
Word  which  has  come  to  pass;  (Luke  II;  15)  the 
Word  made  Flesh.  We  heard  the  angelic  canticle, 
proclaiming  Glory  to  God  on  high,  and  on  earth 
peace  to  men  of  good  will.  (14.)  We  knelt  with 
Mary  and  Joseph  in  lowly  and  loving  adoration,  be- 
fore the  divine  Infant;  and  implored  His  blessing 
and  His  grace.  And  now,  to-day,  by  a  sudden 
transition,  the  Church  summons  us  to  celebrate  the 
triumph  of  the  first  of  that  glorious  army  of  martyrs, 
who  have  dyed  then"  robes  in  the  Blood  of  the  Lamb, 


134  SERMONS  FOR  THE  YEAR 

whose  advent  into  the  world  we  have  just  celebrated ; 
who  have  shed  their  own  blood,  in  testimony  of  their 
faith  in  Him,  and  love  for  Him.  Yes,  to-day,  by 
a  sudden,  but  not  unnatural  nor  abrupt  transition, 
we  keep  the  feast  of  the  holy  I/evite,  St.  Stephen, 
the  first  martyr.  And  if  we  ask  ourselves,  what 
was  it  that  procured  for  him,  before  all  others,  that 
most  enviable  distinction,  we  have  but  to  re- 
peat the  words  which  we  have  chosen  for  our  text. 
Being  "full  of  grace  and  fortitude;"  full  of  grace  in 
the  accomplishment  of  his  sacred  duties;  full  of  for- 
titude in  the  endurance  of  his  martyrdom,  he  was 
worthy  of  being  singled  out  as  one  in  whom  the 
divine  Omnipotence  should  manifest  itself  by  the 
signs  and  wonders  which  he  wrought.  The  pleni- 
tude of  grace  with  which  he  was  endowed  exhibits 
itself  in  the  perfect  manner  in  which  he  discharged 
his  sacred  functions. 

One  of  his  duties,  as  chief  of  the  seven  deacons, 
was  to  administer  the  temporal  possessions  of  the 
Church;  a  charge  full  of  peril,  as  is  manifest  from 
the  fact  that  an  apostle,  the  traitor,  Judas,  has 
already  been  caught  in  that  snare,  and  perished 
miserably.  And  if  we  consider  attentively  the  sub- 
sequent history  of  the  Church,  shall  we  not  find  that 
all  the  misfortunes  and  calamities  which  have,  at 
any  time,  overtaken  her,  have  resulted  almost  in- 
variably from  the  unfaithful  administration  of  this 
sacred  trust,  by  which  the  possessions  of  the  Church 
are  constituted  the  patrimony  of  the  poor.  Hence, 
in  the  very  infancy  of  the  Church,  it  pleased  God  to 


ST.  STEPHEN  135 

raise  up  St.  Stephen  as  an  illustrious  example  to 
all  ages  of  the  scrupulous  fidelity  with  which  this 
great  trust  should  be  discharged  by  the  rulers  of  the 
Church. 

But  besides  this,  another  charge  still  more  oner- 
ous and  dangerous  was  laid  upon  him;  the  care  of 
the  widows,  of  those  devout  women  who  served 
God  in  the  holy  state  of  widowhood.  Needless,  for 
me  to  point  out  how  a  charge  of  this  kind  exacted 
on  his  part  the  utmost  prudence,  vigilance,  purity 
of  heart,  and  divine  charity,  unalloyed  with  human 
weakness.  And  yet  we  find  that  he  passed  through 
this  fiery  trial  unscathed.  He  exercised  this  difficult 
ministry,  not  only  without  scandal,  but  without  re- 
proach or  suspicion :  nay,  even  with  honour  to  him- 
self, and  edification  to  the  Church.  He  was  truly 
that  workman  of  whom  St.  Paul  speaks :  "He  needeth 
not  to  be  ashamed. ' '  (II  Tim.  II ;  15. )  This  triumph 
of  his  singular  chastity  is  the  more  remarkable  when 
we  bear  in  mind  the  sentiments  which  animated  his 
enemies.  Though  the  holiest  reputations  have  suf- 
fered in  this  matter,  yet  the  enemies  of  St.  Stephen 
could  find  nothing  to  reprehend  him  in  this.  There- 
fore, "they  were  cut  to  the  heart,  and  they  gnashed 
with  their  teeth  at  him." 

Let  us  here  examine  ourselves,  and  see  how  far  we 
imitate  St.  Stephen  in  our  own  conduct.  Are  we 
careful  and  prudent  and  circumspect  in  our  inter- 
course with  others;  that  the  breath  of  scandal  may 
not  tarnish  our  reputation.  For,  my  brethren,  it  is 
not  enough  to  maintain  the  inward  purity  of  our 


136  SERMONS  FOR  THE  YEAR 

heart;  but  we  must  also  keep  it  fair  and  spotless  in 
outward  appearance;  "providing  good  things,  not 
only  in  the  sight  of  God,  but  also  in  the  sight  of  all 
men."  (Rom.  XII;  17.)  Hence,  those  are  griev- 
ously mistaken,  and  have  wandered  far  away  from 
the  true  standard  of  Christian  piety,  who  pretend  that 
they  can,  with  impunity,  frequent  doubtful  and 
suspicious  society,  allow  themselves  dangerous  liber- 
ties, on  the  plea  that  their  intentions  are  pure,  and 
that  others  have  no  right  to  judge  them,  or  to  put 
evil  constructions  on  their  conduct.  This  is  the  way 
in  which  we  blindfold  ourselves,  and  walk  heedlessly 
into  the  snares  which  Satan  spreads  for  us.  It  is  our 
bounden  duty,  if  we  wish  to  keep  the  inward  purity 
of  our  heart  and  our  fair  fame,  to  maintain  intact  all 
those  safeguards  and  bulwarks  of  integrity  which  the 
experience  of  ages,  and  the  common  sense  of  mankind 
has  demonstrated  to  be  necessary. 

The  plentitude  of  grace  with  which  St.  Stephen  was 
endowed  is  also  manifest  in  the  wisdom  of  the  words 
which  he  addressed  to  his  persecutors,  so  much  so 
that  "they  were  not  able  to  resist  the  wisdom  and 
the  spirit  that  spake."  "Ye  men,  brethren  and 
fathers,  hear,"  he  cried  hi  all  humility  and  sweetness, 
as  he  unfolded  to  them  the  merciful  designs  of  God  in 
their  behalf,  and  the  inward  rapture  of  his  feelings 
made  itself  visible  on  his  countenance;  for,  "all  that 
sat  in  the  Council,  looking  on  him,  saw  his  face  as  if  it 
had  been  the  face  of  an  angel."  But  notwithstand- 
ing the  wisdom  and  charity  which  inspired  his  words, 
they  remained  hardened;  and  the  holy  Levite,  in  the 


ST.  STEPHEN  137 

ardour  of  his  zeal  was  forced  to  break  out  into  that 
terrible  reproach:  "You  stiff-necked  and  uncircum- 
cised  in  heart  and  ears,  you  always  resist  the  Holy 
Ghost;  as  your  fathers  did,  so  do  you  also."  May  we 
not,  my  dear  brethren,  apply  this  reproach  to  our- 
selves? Do  we  never  resist  the  Holy  Ghost?  In- 
stead of  being  guided  by  the  Spirit  of  God,  do  we  not 
yield  ourselves  up  to  the  influence  of  the  spirit  of  this 
world,  which  is  opposed  to  God?  God  enlightens  us, 
and  the  wisdom  of  this  world  blinds  us.  God  inspires 
us  with  the  desire  of  serving  Him  more  perfectly,  the 
spirit  of  this  world  damps  our  ardour,  and  renders  us 
cold  again  and  indifferent.  God  stirs  up  in  our 
hearts  movements  of  repentance  and  fervour,  the 
spirit  of  this  world  stifles  them  at  once;  and  so  we  go 
on  all  our  lives  resisting  the  Holy  Ghost.  Let  us, 
then,  ask  this  holy  martyr  to  obtain  for  us,  in  addi- 
tion, some  share  of  that  holy  fortitude  with  which  he 
was  endowed,  that  so  we  may  more  effectually  co- 
operate with,  and  correspond  to  the  grace  of  God. 

Let  us  next  consider  the  constancy  of  the  holy 
martyr.  Undoubtedly,  a  great  part  of  his  merit  con- 
sists in  this  fact,  that  he  was  the  first  to  suffer  martyr- 
dom for  Christ.  Like  another  Moses,  it  was  his  glo- 
rious privilege  to  traverse  first  that  Red  Sea  which 
divided  the  people  of  God  from  the  promised  land. 
Whilst  they  stood  on  the  bank,  gazing  timidly  on  the 
angry  wall  of  waters,  on  the  right  hand  and  on  the 
left,  he  boldly  entered  into  the  depths,  and  passed 
across,  encouraging,  by  his  example,  the  noble  army 
of  martyrs  who  were  destined  to  follow  him  in  after 


138  SERMONS  FOR  THE  YEAR 

ages.  Moreover,  his  martyrdom  was  the  most  cruel 
that  could  be  conceived,  so  great  was  the  fury  of  his 
persecutors.  For,  they,  "with  one  accord,  ran  vio- 
lently upon  him,"  and  showered  upon  him  a  hail  of 
stones,  which  inflicted  on  him  the  tortures  of  a  linger- 
ing and  agonizing  death.  Since  the  name  of  Stephen 
means  a  crown,  we  may  well  apply  to  him  the  words 
of  the  Psalmist :  "Thou  hast  set  on  his  head  a  crown 
of  precious  stones."  (Ps.  XX;  4.)  Are  we  possessed 
of  this  spirit  of  fortitude?  A  glance  at  our  daily  lives 
will  supply  the  answer  to  this  question.  St.  Stephen , 
full  of  fortitude,  triumphed  over  torments  and  death ; 
we  allow  ourselves  to  be  overcome  every  day  by  the 
most  trivial  causes.  Christian  fortitude  seems  to 
have  disappeared  altogether,  and  every  one  seems  to 
allow  himself  to  be  carried  along  by  the  current  of  the 
world's  evil  example,  without  ever  the  semblance  to 
its  evil  influence.  Our  own  flesh,  the  greatest  of  all 
our  enemies,  instead  of  being  treated  as  an  enemy,  to 
be  subdued  and  weakened,  is  pampered  and  indulged 
to  the  top  of  its  bent.  Instead  of  being  ever  on  our 
guard  against  the  devil,  the  most  artful  of  our  ene- 
mies, we  seem  to  take  a  pleasure  in  walking  deliber- 
ately into  the  snares  and  pitfalls  which  he  prepares 
for  us.  Whilst  the  world,  which  we  ought  to  show  as 
the  most  seductive  of  all  our  enemies  is  the  object  of 
our  most  assiduous  worship;  whilst  our  whole  life  is 
regulated  by  the  spirit  and  maxims  of  this  corrupt 
world. 

But  that  which  renders  St.  Stephen's  martyrdom 
most  remarkable  is  the  heroic  charity  which  he  mani- 


ST.  STEPHEN  139 

fested  towards  his  cruel  tormentors.  Not  only  did 
he  forgive  them,  but  he  prayed  for  them,  prayed  for 
them  more  earnestly  than  he  prayed  for  himself. 
For,  falling  on  his  knees,  he  cried  with  a  loud  voice, 
saying,  "Lord,  lay  not  this  sin  to  their  charge." 
That  voice  of  Stephen  was  loud  indeed,  loud  enough 
to  reach  the  throne  of  the  Most  High;  and  to  draw 
thence  the  omnipotent  grace,  which  was  able  to  con- 
vert the  persecutor  Saul  into  the  apostle  Paul.  Let 
us,  my  brethren,  strive  to  imitate  the  charity  of  St. 
Stephen;  take  him  to  fulfill  the  precept  of  our 
divine  Master,  who  says:  "Pray  for  them  that  perse- 
cute and  calumniate  you,  that  you  may  be  the  child- 
ren of  your  Father  who  is  in  heaven."  (Matth.  V; 
44,  45.)  Yes,  my  brethren,  on  this  easy  condition, 
we  may  indeed  become  partakers  of  the  divine  adop- 
tion, which  our  blessed  Lord,  who  was  yesterday  born 
for  us,  came  to  bestow  upon  us,  that  we  should  be 
called  and  should  be  the  sons  of  God.  (I  John;  III; 

I.) 


ST.  STEPHEN. 

(Another  Sermon.    Abridged  from  Massilon.) 

"And  they  were  not  able  to  resist  the  wisdom  and  the 
spirit  that  spoke."  (Acts  VI;  10.) 

Every  Christian  is  constituted  by  baptism  a  wit- 
ness and  defender  of  the  truth.  This  is  a  sacred  de- 
posit which  the  Church,  when  we  were  baptized,  put 
into  our  heads,  which  we  are  bound  to  preserve  in 
this  world  of  darkness  and  error,  and  to  defend 


140  SERMONS  FOR  THE  YEAR 

against  all  the  false  maxims,  with  which  the  world 
does  not  cease  to  assail  it.  This  is  one  of  the  chief 
duties  of  a  good  Christian.  He  ought  to  illuminate 
the  world,  as  the  stars  illuminate  the  darkness  of  the 
night,  scattering,  by  the  brilliance  of  his  light,  the 
darkness  which  the  passions  spread  over  the  world; 
rectifying,  by  the  steadfastness  of  his  ways,  the 
crooked  paths  with  which  the  world  abounds,  and 
putting  to  shame,  by  the  purity  and  innocence  of  his 
life,  the  excesses  which  are  everywhere  committed. 
But  good  Christians  are  rare  is  the  world;  and  so, 
there  are  few  who  have  preserved  the  right  to  defend 
the  cause  of  truth.  To  do  so,  we  must  know  it.  And 
most  people  are  ignorant  of  it.  We  must  love  it; 
whilst  every  one  seeks  less  the  interest  of  truth  than 
his  own.  We  must  have  fraternal  charity;  whilst 
such  charity  is  as  rare  almost  as  the  knowledge  of  the 
truth  which  reveals  the  obligation  of  charity  to  us. 
How  is  it  that  the  preacher  of  the  gospel,  instead  of 
proclaiming  it,  has  generally  to  justify  it?  That, 
instead  of  condemning  the  world  by  the  truth,  he  has 
to  defend  the  truth  against  the  world?  That  his 
ministry  instituted  to  instil  virtue  is  almost  limited 
to  an  effort  to  prevent  virtue  from  being  confounded 
with  vice?  It  is  because  every  sinner  makes  out  of 
his  own  passions  a  veil  to  cover  his  sins  from  himself. 
The  light  within  us  cannot  be  pure,  unless  the  heart 
is  pure.  We  must  first  detach  our  hearts  from  sin- 
ful ties,  before  we  can  begin  to  know  our  duties.  The 
truth  is  the  fruit  of  purity  and  innocence.  That 
is  why  every  sinner  acquiesces  so  calmly  in  the  sinful 


ST.  STEPHEN  141 

state  in  which  he  lives.  He  sees  the  danger  attend- 
ing the  other  passions,  whilst  he  is  altogether  blind 
to  the  danger  threatening  himself.  The  ambitious 
man  despises  sensuality;  the  sensual  man  regards 
ambition  as  a  kind  of  madness.  In  a  word,  each  one 
sees  plainly  enough  the  snares  which  are  not  meant 
for  him,  whilst  he  has  no  eyes  for  those  in  which  he  is 
entangled.  To  arrive  then,  at  the  knowledge  of  the 
truth,  we  must  have  piety  of  heart.  We  must, 
moreover,  have  a  sincere  desire  to  know  it.  We 
must,  thirdly,  have  a  pure  intention  in  our  quest 
after  truth. 

All  these  conditions  are  fully  exemplified  in  the 
illustrious  martyr,  St.  Stephen,  whose  feast  we  are 
celebrating.  The  only  end  which  he  proposed  to 
himself  in  seeking  the  truth  was  the  happiness  of 
knowing  it.  It  was  not  any  worldly  interest  which 
attached  him  to  Jesus  Christ.  He  knew  that  re- 
proach and  persecution  were  the  only  reward  which 
He  had  promised  to  His  disciples  here  below.  He 
was  not  eager  for  any  distinction;  and  his  promo- 
tion to  the  ministry  was  the  reward  of  his  modesty 
and  innocence.  Nor  did  he  seek  the  first  place  in 
the  Kingdom  of  his  Master,  for  he  had  already 
learned  from  His  divine  lips  that  the  last  of  His 
disciples  should  be  the  first.  Nor  did  he  crave  the 
foolish  applause  of  men;  rather,  he  exposed  himself 
to  their  derision  and  hatred.  His  aim  was  not  to 
enjoy  a  quiet  and  peaceful  life,  for  he  had  been  told 
that  hunger  and  thirst,  poverty  and  labour  and 
suffering  should  be  his  portion.  He  did  not  even 


142  SERMONS  FOR  THE  YEAR 

covet  the  glory  of  working  miracles  like  the  sacri- 
ligious  Simon  Magus,  for  he  had  been  taught  that 
those  who  worked  even  great  miracles  were  not  on 
that  account  to  be  numbered  amongst  the  disciples 
of  His  divine  Master.  He  sought  Jesus  Christ  for 
His  sake  alone.  We  have  considered  how  St. 
Stephen  was  prepared  for  the  glorious  sacrifice  of 
his  martyrdom  by  his  enlightened  knowledge  of  the 
truth.  Next,  let  us  consider  his  intrepid  fortitude 
in  defending  it. 

There  are  three  defects  which  are  opposed  to  that 
Christian  fortitude,  which  all  are  bound  to  show  in 
defense  of  the  truth.  First,  the  fear  of  man,  which 
causes  us,  in  spite  of  our  conscience,  to  declare 
against  the  truth.  Second,  the  prudence  of  the 
flesh,  which  causes  us  to  keep  a  guilty  silence,  and 
prevents  us  from  opening  our  mouth  in  defense  of 
the  truth.  Third,  a  mistaken  condescension  which 
seeks  a  compromise  between  truth  and  falsehood ; 
thereby  disguising  and  perverting  the  truth,  and 
which  seeks  to  please  men  at  the  expense  of  truth 
and  conscience.  Now,  the  example  of  the  holy 
martyr  whom  we  are  now  honouring  furnishes  us 
with  most  effectual  remedies  against  these  three 
defects.  For,  what  was  his  attitude  when  the  storm 
of  persecution  burst  upon  the  Church?  When  the 
shepherd  was  smitten,  the  sheep  were  scattered. 
The  fury  of  Herod,  the  malice  of  the  priests,  the 
superstition  of  the  people  alike,  threatened  the  worst 
consequences  to  the  new  disciples.  Some  of  them, 
who  had  been  witnesses  of  our  I/ord's  miracles,  were 


ST.  STEPHEN  143 

now  ranged  on  the  side  of  His  enemies  for  fear  of 
sharing  in  His  condemnation.  In  the  midst  of  the 
general  consternation,  we  are  told  that  Stephen 
remained  calm  and  steadfast,  full  of  grace  and  forti- 
tude. We,  my  brethren,  are  not  called  on  as  St. 
Stephen  was,  to  resist  even  unto  blood.  Neverthe- 
less, we  are  all  called  on,  as  I  said  in  the  beginning, 
to  defend  the  truth,  at  least  against  the  persecution 
which  we  encounter  in  every-day  life;  and  what  is 
our  conduct?  How  rare  it  is  to  find  one  who  takes 
up  in  earnest  the  interests  of  truth!  We  are  ener- 
getic enough  in  defence  of  our  own  pet  inclinations, 
but  we  are  timid  and  cowardly  in  the  defence  of  the 
truth.  What  share  can  we  claim  of  that  holy  cour- 
age, of  that  unflinching  rectitude,  of  the  magna- 
nimity, of  which  St.  Stephen  has  left  us  so  noble  an 
example,  and  which  have  characterized  all  the  con- 
fessors of  the  faith?  We  live  for  the  world,  and  not 
for  God.  It  is  by  the  maxims  of  the  world  that  we 
regulate  our  conscience  and  our  religion.  Our  dis- 
position and  character,  our  mind  and  heart  are 
formed  on  the  principles  of  the  world.  It  supplies 
the  end  at  which  we  aim;  the  motive  of  all  our 
actions,  as  if  it  were  able  to  secure  us  an  adequate 
reward.  Whatever  is  not  done  for  the  world  we 
consider  as  lost;  as  though  nothing  were  real  that  is 
not  perishable.  And  after  several  years  spent  in 
this  fashion,  we  find,  at  our  death,  that  God  for 
whom  alone  we  ought  to  have  lived,  has  been  ban- 
ished completely  from  our  thoughts. 


144  SERMONS  FOR  THE  YEAR 

Again,  carnal  prudence  leads  us  often  to  keep  a 
guilty  silence,  when  truth  is  attacked.  How  un- 
worthy is  such  conduct  of  the  children  of  the  Mar- 
tyrs! What;  the  world  does  not  fear  to  proclaim 
aloud  its  errors  and  its  sinful  and  pernicious  maxims ; 
and  shall  we  fear  to  render  testimony  to  the  truths 
of  the  eternal  life?  The  world  prides  itself  on  its 
empty  learning;  and  shall  we  be  ashamed  of  the  doc- 
trine of  Jesus  Christ?  The  world  dares  to  contra- 
dict the  teachings  of  faith  by  its  captious  quib- 
bles ;  and  shall  we  fear  to  contradict  the  sophisms  of 
the  world  by  the  teaching  of  faith?  The  world 
treats  the  gospel  with  contempt;  shall  we  not  dare  to 
defend  it  against  the  world?  The  world  regards  the 
doctrines  of  faith  as  folly  and  weakness;  shall  we  have 
a  more  tender  consideration  for  its  follies  and  errors 
than  the  world  shows  towards  the  truth?  The 
world  has  no  toleration  for  piety,  it  is  the  object  of 
its  contempt,  of  its  derision,  of  its  criticism;  shall  the 
servants  of  God  tolerate  the  corruption  of  the  world, 
and  not  dare  to  brand  it  with  the  infamy  which  is 
its  due?  We  make  it  our  duty  to  defend  the  inter- 
ests of  our  friends  against  those  who  attack  them; 
shall  we  prove  insensible  and  indifferent  when  the 
interests  of  Jesus  Christ  are  attacked? 

Yet,  again,  a  mistaken  condescension  often  leads 
us  to  compromise  the  truth;  a  condescension  which 
is  often  unjustly  dignified  with  the  name  of  prud- 
ence; which  leads  in  our  intercourse  with  others  to 
find  some  way  of  reconciling  the  world  and  Jesus 
Christ.  We  come  to  approve  the  world's  notion  of 


ST.  STEPHEN  145 

virtue,  under  the  pretext  of  blaming  everything  that 
is  extreme.  We  are  indulgent  to  folly  and  vanity; 
we  extend  a  much  greater  license  to  the  world  and  its 
usages  than  the  laws  of  the  Gospel  will  allow.  We 
esteem  the  absence  of  crime  as  the  perfection  of 
virtue.  We  give  to  natural  gifts  and  talents  the 
credit  which  is  only  due  to  the  gifts  of  grace.  We 
are  always  finding,  even  in  the  faults  of  our  friends 
which  we  condemn,  certain  aspects  which  render 
them  excusable.  We  never  represent  the  truth  in 
all  its  extent  as  it  represents  itself  to  us.  We  con- 
struct for  ourselves  a  false  rule  of  charity  and  pru- 
dence by  accommodating  ourselves,  up  to  a  certain 
point,  to  the  prejudices  of  those  with  whom  we  have 
to  live.  Our  self-love  renders  us  ingenious,  in  our 
social  intercourse,  to  conciliate  the  interests  of  truth 
which  men  hate,  with  the  interests  of  the  passions 
which  they  love;  and  truth  is  toned  down  till  it 
ceases  to  be  truth. 

Nevertheless,  the  example  of  St.  Stephen  shows 
that  our  zeal  for  truth  must  be  inspired  by  the  most 
ardent  charity.  The  blood  which  he  shed  became, 
through  charity,  the  seed  from  which  a  great  apostle 
has  destined  to  spring.  The  prayers  of  St.  Stephen 
are  already  preparing  the  graces  which  will  make 
Saul  the  persecutor  a  vessel  of  election,  a  spectacle 
for  angels  and  for  men.  If,  then,  the  holy  deacon's 
zeal  could  not  convert  the  faithless  Jerusalem,  his 
death,  at  least,  will  furnish  a  minister  powerful  in 
word  and  work,  who  will  carry  the  gospel  to  every 
corner  of  the  earth.  Such,  my  brethren,  are  the  true 


146  SERMONS  FOR  THE  YEAR 

defenders  of  the  truth.  It  is  charity  which  gains 
them  their  victories.  We  must  desire  the  salvation 
of  those  whose  errors  we  attack.  The  truth  often 
meets  with  rebellious  hearts,  because  it  so  often  finds 
uncharitable  advocates.  Let  us,  then,  strive  to 
imitate  the  glorious  example  which  St.  Stephen  gave 
us,  to  defend  the  cause  of  God  and  His  truth  with  a 
zeal  like  his,  and  enlightened  zeal,  an  intrepid  zeal, 
and  above  all,  a  charitable  zeal;  that  we  may,  like 
him,  see  the  heavens  opened,  and  the  Son  of  Man 
preparing  to  welcome  us  to  this  Kingdom. 

ST.  JOHN,  EVANGELIST. 

(Dec.  27.) 

"Peter  turning  about  saw  that  disciple  whom  Jesus 
loved,  following;  who  also  leaned  on  His  Breast  at 
Supper."  (John  XXI;  20.) 

In  this  last  chapter  of  the  Gospel  of  St.  John  we 
find  recorded  the  circumstances  which  attended  the 
third  apparition  of  our  Lord  to  His  apostles,  after 
His  resurrection;  an  apparition  which  was  most 
memorable  from  the  fact  that  then  and  there,  Peter 
was  appointed  chief  pastor  of  Christ's  flock  upon 
earth;  and  all  those  glorious  promises  were  finally 
realized,  which  had  been  made  to  him  by  our  Lord, 
in  the  course  of  His  public  ministry.  After  this,  our 
Lord  foretold  the  crucifixion  of  the  Prince  of  the 
apostles;  so  that  he  who  was  to  be  the  vicar  of  his 
divine  Master  on  earth  should  also  imitate  Him  in 
the  manner  of  His  death.  Then  it  was  that  St. 


ST.  JOHN,  EVANGELIST  147 

Peter,  overwhelmed  with  the  sense  of  the  ineffable 
privilege  conferred  upon  him,  and  of  his  own  un- 
worthiness,  turned  and  beheld  the  beloved  disciple, 
St.  John,  and  said  to  Jesus:  "Lord,  and  what  shall 
this  man  do?"  Peter  remembered  well  that  on  the 
memorable  night  when  his  Lord  was  betrayed  by 
Judas,  how  St.  John  was  privileged  to  recline  on 
Jesus'  Breast,  whilst  the  great  mystery  of  the  holy 
Eucharist  was  being  instituted;  that  it  was  through 
him  that  Peter  begged  to  know  who  was  the  traitor 
among  the  twelve.  "Now,  there  was  leaning  on 
Jesus'  Bosom  one  of  His  disciples  whom  Jesus  loved. 
Simon  Peter,  therefore,  beckoned  to  him,  and  said 
to  him:  'Who  is  it  of  whom  He  speaketh?'  He, 
therefore,  leaning  on  the  Breast  of  Jesus,  saith  to 
Him:  'Lord,  who  is  it?'  "  (John  XIII;  23,  25.) 
Moreover,  Peter  remembered,  and  only  too  well, 
how,  on  the  same  night,  he  too,  like  Judas,  had 
denied,  if  not  betrayed,  his  Master;  but  happily, 
unlike  Judas,  repaired  his  fault  by  bitter  tears  of 
penance.  No  wonder,  then,  that  he  was  over- 
whelmed at  the  thought  of  our  Lord's  goodness  in 
choosing  him,  in  spite  of  his  fall,  to  be  the  rock  on 
which  the  Church  should  be  built.  No  wonder  that 
he  was  amazed  that  he  should  be  preferred  to  St. 
John,  the  disciple  whom  Jesus  loved.  But  the 
mysteries  of  God's  Providence  are  inscrutable,  and 
not  to  be  sounded  by  human  judgment.  It  is  for 
man  to  submit  his  judgment,  and  not  to  question  or 
reason  about  the  ways  of  the  Almighty;  and,  there- 
fore, our  Lord  administered  to  him  the  just  rebuke : 


148  SERMONS  FOR  THE  YEAR 

"What  is  it  to  thee?  Follow  thou  Me."  But  if, 
my  brethren,  we  may  not  imitate  the  curiosity  of 
St.  Peter  in  desiring  to  know  why  our  Lord  did  not 
exalt  St.  John  above  the  rest  of  the  apostles  in 
rank  and  authority,  we  may,  at  least,  imitate  his 
admiration  of  those  interior  graces  with  which  St. 
John  was  pre-eminently  endowed;  and  admiring 
them,  strive  to  imitate  them.  For  this  is  why  the 
Church  proposes  to  us  the  celebration  of  the  Feasts 
of  the  chosen  servants  of  God;  that  we  may  invoke 
their  intercession,  and  imitate  their  virtues.  Let 
us,  then,  consider  some  of  the  chief  graces  which 
adorned  the  beloved  disciple,  as  they  are  recorded 
in  the  holy  scriptures. 

First,  his  virginal  chastity.  He  was  pre-eminently 
the  virgin-disciple;  and  it  was  on  this  account  that 
he  merited  to  be  so  highly  honoured.  It  was  for 
this  reason  that  our  Lord  bequeathed  to  him  the 
care  of  His  blessed  Mother.  "When  Jesus,  there- 
fore, had  seen  His  Mother,  and  the  disciple 
standing  whom  He  loved,  He  saith  to  His  Mother: 
'Woman,  behold  thy  Son.'  After  that  He  saith  to 
the  disciple:  'Behold  thy  Mother.'  And  from  that 
hour  the  disciple  took  her  to  his  own."  (John  XIX; 
26,  27.)  Jesus  would  leave  His  Mother,  herself  an 
immaculate  virgin,  only  to  the  care  of  a  virgin.  She 
was  that  which  He  loved  most  on  earth,  and  He 
would  bequeath  that  precious  legacy  to  none  other 
than  a  virgin.  This  predilection  of  our  Lord  to- 
wards this  virtue  ought  to  fill  us  with  a  great  love 
and  estimation  for  it,  and  a  great  desire  of  cultivating 


ST.  JOHN,  EVANGELIST  149 

it.  It  ought  to  make  us  resolve  to  emulate  this 
better  gift ;  and  if  we  cannot  aspire  to  the  perfection 
of  this  virtue;  at  least,  to  acquire  the  chastity  of 
that  particular  state  of  life  to  which  we  are  called. 

Again,  this  great  Saint  was  remarkable  for  his  sub- 
lime knowledge  and  the  deep  insight  which  he  was 
privileged  to  possess  of  the  mysteries  of  God.  This 
knowledge  he  imbibed,  not  from  books,  or  learned 
training  or  profound  study,  but  from  the  well-spring 
of  all  truth,  the  Sacred  Heart  of  our  Lord.  The  four 
evangelists  are  compared  in  the  Scriptures  to  four 
living  creatures:  one  having  the  features  of  a  lion, 
another  of  an  ox,  a  third  of  a  man,  and  the  fourth  of 
an  eagle.  Now,  to  St.  John,  the  symbol  of  the  eagle 
is  universally  applied;  the  reason  for  which  is  thus 
assigned  by  St.  Augustine:  "Because  he  raised  his 
preaching  to  a  much  higher  and  more  sublime  key 
than  the  others.  For  the  other  three  seem  to  walk 
on  the  earth  with  our  Lord,  as  Man,  and  say  little  of 
His  divinity;  whilst  St.  John,  scorning  to  walk  on  the 
earth,  begins  his  gospel  by  raising  himself,  not  only 
above  the  earth  and  above  all  the  space  of  sky  and 
heaven,  yea,  above  all  the  host  of  angels,  and  all  the 
array  of  invisible  powers;  and  reacheth  to  Him  by 
whom  all  things  were  made"  saying:  "In  the  begin- 
ning was  the  Word,  and  the  Word  was  with  God,  and 
the  Word  was  God."  (John  I;  1.)  And  that  which 
follows  is  in  keeping  with  so  sublime  a  beginning. 
He  spake  of  our  Lord's  divinity,  as  no  other  man 
spake.  He  gave  utterance  to  that  which  he  had  im- 
bibed. For,  it  is  not  without  a  reason  that,  in  his  own 


150  SERMONS  FOR  THE  YEAR 

gospel,  he  tells  us  how,  at  the  Last  Supper,  he  reclined 
on  our  Lord's  Breast.  From  that  well,  therefore,  he 
secretly  drank ;  and  what  he  drank  in  secret,  he  uttered 
openly,  in  order  that  all  nations  might  know,  not  only 
the  Incarnation  of  God  the  Son,  His  Passion  and 
Resurrection;  but  also,  that  before  His  Incarnation, 
He  was  one  with  the  Father,  co-eternal  with  Him  who 
generated  Him,  co-equal  with  Him  by  whom  He  was 
sent.  John  himself  is  the  eagle,  the  preacher  of  sub- 
lime truths,  able  to  gaze  with  steady  eye  upon  the 
interior  and  eternal  light."  This,  then,  is  another 
prerogative  of  the  virgin-apostle,  to  soar  aloft  on  the 
wings  of  contemplation,  and  gaze  on  the  Light  inac- 
cessible with  an  eye  that  falters  not,  and  a  face  that 
blanches  not;  and  to  be  the  interpreter  of  what  he 
said  to  us  who  creep  along  the  ground,  without  daring 
to  scan  those  giddy  heights.  "That  which  was  from 
the  beginning,  which  we  have  heard,  which  we  have 
seen  with  our  eyes,  which  we  have  looked  upon,  and 
our  hands  have  handled,  of  the  Word  of  life.  For 
the  Life  was  manifested,  and  we  have  seen,  and  do 
bear  witness,  and  declare  unto  you  the  Life  eternal, 
which  was  with  the  Father,  and  hath  appeared  to 
us;  That  which  we  have  seen  and  have  heard,  we 
declare  unto  you."  (I  John  I;  1,  3.)  But  let  us  not 
be  satisfied  with  merely  admiring  the  celestial 
draughts  of  wisdom  which  St.  John  drank  from  that 
divine  Fountain,  the  Sacred  Heart  of  Jesus.  For  the 
same  fountain  is  open  to  us;  and  it  is  our  own  fault 
if  we  do  not,  each  in  his  own  measure,  draw  thence 
the  torrents  of  Life  and  Wisdom.  If  St.  John  was 


ST.  JOHN,  EVANGELIST  151 

privileged  to  lie  on  our  Lord's  Bosom,  are  we  not 
privileged  to  receive  our  Lord  into  ours?  "Can  a 
man  hide  fire  in  his  bosom,  and  his  garments  not 
burn?"  (Prov.  VI;  27)  asks  the  wise  man.  Is  it 
possible  that  we  should  receive  our  Lord  into  our 
breasts,  and  not  be  altogether  inflamed  with  the  fire 
of  divine  love!  "I  am  come,"  said  He,  "to  cast  fire 
on  the  earth,  and  what  will  I  but  that  it  be  kindled?" 
(Luke  XII ;  49.)  And  yet,  alas !  that  it  should  be  so, 
this  is  a  miracle  that  is  daily  happening.  We  come 
to  the  Sun  of  Justice,  to  the  living  Fire,  and  we 
remain  as  cold  as  ice.  We  hide  Him  in  our  bosom, 
and  our  garments  do  not  burn.  And  whose  fault  is 
this?  Do  we  not  receive  the  same  God  Who  kindled 
the  fire  of  love  in  the  breast  of  St.  John,  Who  lighted 
up  with  such  ecstatic  joy  the  features  of  a  St.  Cath- 
erine, a  St.  Philip,  a  St.  Juliana,  when  they  received 
this  adorable  sacrament?  And  is  it  not  His  Will 
that  the  same  fire  should  be  enkindled  hi  us?  The 
fault,  then,  is  in  ourselves.  Let  us  imitate  the  ex- 
ample of  this  great  Saint,  that  we,  too,  may  be  made 
partakers  of  those  sweet  colloquies  which  take  place 
between  the  devout  soul  and  the  Sacred  Heart  of 
Jesus.  We  complain  of  the  weariness  of  this  life,  of 
its  troubles  and  trials  and  temptations,  of  the  per- 
versity of  our  own  evil  inclinations,  of  the  disappoint- 
ments and  vexations  which  beset  us  in  this  world,  of 
the  disgust  which  follows  all  earthly  satisfactions; 
and  do  we  not  know  that  our  Lord  has  established  a 
secure  haven  of  refuge  for  all  weary  souls  in  His 
Sacred  Heart?  There  we  can  repose  ourselves,  and 


152  SERMONS  FOR  THE  YEAR 

in  that  Tabernacle  we  may  enjoy  unutterable  peace, 
secure  from  all  the  blasts  of  temptation,  satiated  with 
the  happiness  which  is  ever  welling  forth  from  the 
abyss  of  divine  Goodness.  The  grace  of  our  Lord  is 
infinite;  its  only  measure  is  the  limit  which  we  put  by 
our  own  coldness  and  indifference. 

For  the  love,  then,  of  our  Infant  Saviour,  Who 
from  His  crib  is  striving  so  hard  to  win  our  love, 
break  down  these  hateful  barriers,  resign  yourselves 
to  the  sweet  attractions  of  His  grace,  and  let  Him 
reign  in  your  hearts.  Then  you  will  find  them  set 
on  fire  with  that  love  with  which  St.  John  burned. 
And  if  your  hearts  burn,  your  garments  will  also 
burn;  that  is,  the  love  you  feel  interiorly  will  show 
itself  exteriorly;  and  in  loving  Him,  we  shall  love  all 
for  His  sake,  as  the  example  of  the  holy  apostle 
teaches  us.  It  is  related  of  him  that  being  now  very 
old,  and  hardly  able  to  be  carried  into  the  church  in 
the  arms  of  his  disciples,  and  unable  to  utter  many 
words,  he  used,  Sunday  after  Sunday,  to  give  no  other 
exhortation  but  this:  "My  little  children,  love  one 
another."  At  length,  the  brethren  being  weary  of 
always  hearing  the  same  words,  said:  "Master,  why 
are  you  always  repeating  the  same  thing?"  He 
answered  in  a  way  worthy  of  John:  "Because  it  is  the 
Lord's  Commandment,  and  if  this  alone  be  done,  it 
is  enough."  Truly,  it  is  enough;  (Rom.  XIII;  10) 
for  "love  is  the  fulfilling  of  the  law."  "This  do  and 
thou  shalt  live."  (Luke  X;  28.) 


153 

HOLY  INNOCENTS 

"A voice  in  Rama  was  heard:  lamentation  and  great 
mourning:  Rachel  bewailing  her  children,  and  would 
not  be  comforted,  because  they  are  not."  (Matth.  II; 
14.) 

The  angelic  hymn:  "Glory  to  God  in  the  highest; 
and  on  earth  peace  to  men  of  good  will"  still  echoes 
round  the  crib  of  Bethlehem;  when,  of  a  sudden,  a 
different  kind  of  strain  awakes  the  stillness  of  the 
midnight  air — a  cry  of  wailing  and  lamentation — the 
cry  of  despairing  mothers  bewailing  their  murdered 
infants,  and  refusing  to  be  comforted  because  they 
are  not.  But,  my  brethren,  although  the  Church 
shows  her  compassion  for  these  afflicted  mothers,  by 
exchanging  her  white  robe  of  gladness  for  the  purple 
robe  of  mourning,  in  the  midst  of  the  joys  of  this 
festival  of  Christmas,  yet  she  rejoices  still,  and  bids 
us  rejoice  in  this  barbarous  but  glorious  massacre  of 
the  holy  Innocents.  Barbarous  in  the  cruel  tyrant 
by  whose  mandate  it  was  perpetrated:  glorious  to 
God  in  whose  honour  they  were  immolated ;  salutary 
to  the  Church,  of  whom  it  has  been  truly  said  that 
the  blood  of  martyrs  is  the  seed  of  Christians;  and 
lastly,  most  beneficial  to  the  infants  themselves,  who, 
before  they  had  experienced  any  of  the  trials  and 
temptations  of  this  life,  were,  by  one  stroke  of  the 
sword,  translated  at  once  from  this  vale  of  tears  to 
the  bosom  of  Abraham,  there  to  await  the  coming  of 
our  Lord  to  escort  them  to  everlasting  bliss.  Let 
us,  then,  make  this  the  subject  of  our  devout  medita- 


154  SERMONS  FOR  THE  YEAR 

tion,  taking  for  our  guidance  the  simple  gospel  nar- 
rative. 

The  all- wise  God  who  laughs  to  scorn  the  counsels 
of  princes,  knew  the  wicked  intention  of  Herod, 
whose  object  it  was  to  destroy  in  His  cradle  the  new- 
born Saviour  of  the  World;  although  he  sought  to 
cloak  his  purpose  at  first  under  the  pretext  of  going 
to  pay  Him  his  adoration.  It  was  only  when  this 
first  stratagem  was  baffled  that  he  issued  the  cruel 
edict  of  slaughter.  Our  divine  I/)rd,  it  is  true,  came 
into  the  world  that  He  might  die  for  us;  but  it  was 
not  His  Will  that  He  should  die  by  the  hand  of  Herod. 
He  had  a  great  work  to  accomplish  first,  which  would 
require  Him  to  tarry  here  amongst  us  for  three  and 
thirty  years,  before  He  would  consummate  His  sacri- 
fice. This  counsel  of  the  tyrant  had  thus  to  be  de- 
feated, and  how  was  it  defeated  ?  God,  Who  is  omnip- 
otent, might,  had  He  so  chosen,  have  smitten  the 
royal  murderer  and  his  satellites  with  instant  death. 
He  could  have  sent  legions  of  angels  to  guard  the 
Infant  Jesus.  But  such  was  not  the  course  ordained 
by  divine  Providence.  Such  a  course  might,  no 
doubt,  have  approved  itself  to  the  notions  of  the 
world;  but  it  was  not  the  counsel  of  Him,  Who,  when 
He  entered  into  the  world,  came  to  give  the  world  an 
example  of  humiliation  and  self-abasement.  No, 
He  chooses  rather  to  fly  before  the  face  of  Herod. 
God  flees  before  His  own  creature.  What  an  ex- 
ample is  this  for  us,  who,  when  we  think  ourselves 
attacked  or  injured,  are  filled  with  resentment,  who 
are  always  standing  on  our  rights ! 


HOLY  INNOCENTS  155 

This  example  of  our  blessed  Lord  has  been  faith- 
fully imitated  by  His  Spouse,  the  Church.  As  our 
Lord  foretold,  the  Church  has  been  persecuted,  even 
as  He  was  persecuted ;  nor,  indeed,  would  she  be  the 
Church  of  Christ,  if  she  were  not  persecuted.  "If 
they  have  persecuted  Me,  they  will  also  persecute 
you. ' '  (John  XV ;  20. )  The  resemblance  also  holds 
good  as  to  the  manner  of  persecution.  Our  Lord 
fled  before  His  persecutors;  and,  when  the  time  was 
come,  He  yielded  Himself  up  to  His  enemies,  for  them 
to  wreak  their  cruel  purpose  upon  Him,  without 
murmur  or  complaint.  For  He  was  "led  as  a  sheep 
to  the  slaughter;  and  as  a  lamb  before  his  shearer,  so 
He  opened  not  His  mouth."  (Is.  LIU ;  7.)  And  so, 
the  Church,  in  every  age  the  object  of  the  persecution 
of  the  rulers  of  this  world,  seeks  not  to  oppose  them 
by  violence;  but  meekly  submits  to  the  persecutions 
and  injustices  of  which  she  is  the  victim.  When, 
some  years  ago,  an  impious  and  sacrilegious  King, 
at  the  head  of  his  ruffian  bands,  invaded  the  patri- 
mony of  St.  Peter,  and  subjected  the  Vicar  of  Christ 
to  all  kinds  of  indignities,  defiled  the  holy  City  with 
their  impieties,  persecuted  and  despoiled  the  spouses 
of  Christ  and  the  anointed  of  the  Lord ;  and  when  all 
this  was  done  with  the  apparent  sanction  of  successful 
accomplishment,  some  Catholics  seemed  to  be  scan- 
dalized thereat,  and  to  expect  that  some  visible  judg- 
ment of  God  would  intervene  and  smite  the  sacri- 
legious host,  forgetting  that  such  was  not  the  ordi- 
nary course  of  divine  Providence,  which,  indeed, 
"reacheth  from  end  to  end  mightily,  and  ordereth  all 


156  SERMONS  FOR  THE  YEAR 

things  sweetly:"  (Wisd.  VIII;  1)  which  makes  even 
the  crimes  of  men  contribute  to  the  furtherance  of 
its  divine  ends;  and  knows  how  to  guide  the  course 
of  events  in  such  a  way  as  to  show  His  mercy,  and 
vindicate  His  justice.  Such  as  these  forget  what  our 
Lord  said  to  two  of  His  disciples,  who  wanted  to  call 
down  fire  from  heaven  to  destroy  a  certain  village 
which  refused  to  entertain  our  Lord.  He  rebuked 
them  and  said:  "You  know  not  of  what  spirit  you 
are."  (Luke  IX;  55.)  And  so,  these  Catholics 
know  not  what  is  the  true  Catholic  spirit.  Not  to 
oppose  violence  to  violence,  nor  force  to  force;  for 
"all  that  take  the  sword  shall  perish  with  the  sword," 
(Matth.  XXVI;  52)  but  to  submit  to  persecution,  and 
to  await  in  patience,  until  it  shall  please  God,  in  His 
own  good  time,  to  avenge  our  cause.  "It  is  good  to 
wait  with  silence  for  the  salvation  of  God."  (Lam. 
Ill;  26.) 

We  may,  my  dear  brethren,  pursue  this  subject 
still  further ;  and  say  that  what  is  true  of  Jesus  Christ 
in  His  real  Body,  and  what  is  true  of  Him  in  His 
mystical  Body,  the  Church,  must  also  be  true  of  each 
individual  member  of  that  Body;  it  must  be  true  of 
me,  of  you,  of  every  one.  Hence,  every  one  who 
professes  to  be  a  follower  of  Jesus  Christ,  must  suffer 
persecution  with  patience  and  even  with  joy,  with- 
out resentment,  and  without  opposing  violence  to 
those  that  injure  us.  For,  "Blessed  are  ye  when 
they  shall  revile  you  and  persecute  you,  and  speak 
all  that  is  evil  against  you,  untruly,  for  My  sake. 
Be  glad  and  rejoice,  for  your  reward  is  very  great 


HOIvY  INNOCENTS  157 

in  heaven;  for  so  they  persecuted  the  prophets  that 
were  before  you."     (Matth.  V;  11,  12.) 

Let  us  next  consider,  my  dear  brethren,  the  cir- 
cumstances of  the  cruel  massacre  which  forms  the 
subject  of  this  day's  solemnity.  The  author  of  the 
deed  was  King  Herod,  whom  the  world  calls  "the 
Great;"  by  which  epithet  the  world  shows  the  spirit 
by  which  it  is  led.  He  was  certainly  great,  but 
great  in  his  crimes,  in  his  vices,  in  his  cruelty,  in 
everything  that  was  opposed  to  the  law  of  nature 
and  the  law  of  God.  Such,  indeed,  is  the  greatness 
of  most  of  those  whom  the  world  styles  great.  Herod 
was  a  genuine  specimen  of  a  true  persecutor  of  the 
Church.  Ambitious  and  cruel,  to  him  religion  was 
nothing,  and  worldly  policy  everything.  To  carry 
out  this  policy,  he  scrupled  at  nothing.  He  even 
sacrificed  his  own  son  to  his  jealous  rage;  and  his 
monstrous  cruelties  provoked  the  taunt  even  of  the 
Roman  Emperor,  who  had  himself  waded  to  that 
throne  through  seas  of  blood.  Precisely  similar 
were  all  the  tyrants,  who,  in  subsequent  ages,  per- 
secuted the  Church  of  God.  The  Arian  Emperors, 
the  Henrys  and  Frederics  of  Germany,  the  Kings 
of  England,  and  in  more  modern  times,  the  Napoleon 
and  other  crowned  despots,  who  have  trampled  under 
their  feet  all  laws  and  rights,  divine  and  human,  in 
order  to  further  their  ambitious  projects.  But  if 
Herod  resembled  other  persecutors  of  the  Church, 
of  all  ages,  in  his  unscrupulous  schemes  of  worldly 
policy,  he  resembles  them  also  in  the  utter  failure  of 
his  schemes.  God  is  wont  to  catch  the  wise  in  their 


158  SERMONS  FOR  THE  YEAR 

craftiness.  Herod  thought  that  by  ordering  the 
indiscriminate  massacre  of  all  the  infants  in  that 
district  who  were  two  years  old  and  under,  he  would 
be  sure  to  cut  off  the  Child  Whom  he  so  much  feared. 
But  what  happened?  Hundreds  upon  hundreds  of 
innocent  babes  were  ruthlessly  snatched  from  their 
mothers'  breasts,  and  butchered,  whilst  the  very 
Babe  Whom  he  sought  to  slay,  alone  escapes  the 
slaughter.  Such  is  the  fate  of  all  the  Church's 
persecutors.  Their  schemes  seem  to  be  well  laid; 
they  seem  to  leave  no  loop-hole  of  escape  to  the 
Church;  they  appear  to  succeed  for  a  time.  But 
the  event  shows  that  the  mighty  Hand  of  God  still 
protects  His  Church,  shielding  her  from  the  perse- 
cuting sword;  and  finally  bringing  her  back  in 
triumph  from  the  exile  which  she  has  endured. 
Have  we  not  but  lately  witnessed  an  instance  of  this, 
in  the  marvelous  restoration,  by  God's  Providence, 
of  the  Church  in  Germany,  which  had  been  threat- 
ened with  extinction  through  the  ruthless  policy  of 
one  of  these  secular  tyrants? 

But,  in  the  meantime,  the  persecuting  sword  does 
its  work.  As  it  thus  despatched  the  holy  Inno- 
cents, so  it  is  in  every  age;  thousands  upon  thou- 
sands fall  victims  to  it.  But  is  this  a  reason  for 
mourning  and  lamentation?  No,  my  brethren, 
rather  is  it  a  reason  for  triumph  and  exultation. 
The  Church  rejoices  in  nothing  so  much  as  in  the 
death  and  triumph  of  her  holy  martyrs.  And  there 
never  will  be  wanting  martyrs  to  the  Church,  as 
there  never  will  be  wanting  persecutors.  We,  my 


ST.  THOMAS  OF  CANTERBURY        159 

brethren,  may  not  be  called  on  to  suffer  imprison- 
ment and  death  for  the  faith,  but  we  are  called  on  to 
suffer  persecutions  of  one  kind  or  another,  which  I 
need  not  now  particularize,  as  you  know  them  very 
well.  Let  us,  then,  seek  to  penetrate  ourselves  with 
the  true  spirit  of  Christ,  and  suffer,  like  those  holy 
Innocents,  without  complaining,  without  resistance; 
counting  it  a  joy  to  be  deemed  worthy  to  suffer  for 
the  Name  of  Christ;  (Acts  V;  41.)  that  having  been 
found  worthy  to  share  in  His  sufferings,  we  may  also 
be  found  worthy  to  share  in  His  Joy  and  in  His 
Triumph.  (II  Cor.  1 ;  7.) 

ST.  THOMAS  OF  CANTERBURY 

(Dec.  29.) 

"Jesus  said:  '/  am  the  good  Shepherd:  the  good 
Shepherd  giveth  His  life  for  His  sheep.'  "  (John  X; 
II.) 

There  is  perhaps  no  more  touching  expression  of 
our  Lord's  love  for  us,  than  that  which  is  contained 
in  the  gospel  of  this  festival,  in  which  He  calls  Him- 
self the  good  Shepherd.  Nor  is  this  the  only  place 
in  which  the  expression  occurs,  for  we  find  fre- 
quent allusions  to  in  in  the  gospels.  For  example, 
our  Lord  describes  Himself  as  going  in  search  of  the 
sheep  that  was  lost;  and,  having  found  it,  He  places 
it  on  His  shoulders,  rejoicing.  (Luke  XV;  5.) 
Again,  just  before  His  Ascension  into  heaven,  when 
He  was  about  to  leave  His  Church  to  the  care  of  St. 
Peter,  His  vicar  upon  earth,  on  that  solemn  occa- 


160  SERMONS  FOR  THE  YEAR 

sion,  after  St.  Peter's  triple  profession  of  his  love 
for  his  divine  Master,  He  gave  into  his  charge  the 
souls  which  He  had  redeemed  by  His  Blood;  and 
the  terms  of  that  Commission  were,  to  feed  the  sheep 
and  the  lambs  of  His  Flock.  (John  XXI;  15,  17.) 
Since,  then,  this  idea  was  so  familiar  and  so  dear  to 
our  blessed  Lord,  let  us  meditate  a  little  upon  it  in 
order  that  we  may  grow  in  love  of  Him.  For,  the 
more  we  meditate  upon  the  life  of  our  Lord,  and  the 
more  we  dwell  upon  His  Features,  as  they  are  de- 
lineated for  us  in  the  gospels,  the  more  shall  we  grow 
in  His  knowledge  and  in  His  love;  and  the  more  shall 
we  resemble  Him  in  our  life,  which,  after  all,  is  the 
object  at  which  every  Christian  ought  to  aim — to 
become  conformable  to  the  image  of  the  Son  of 
God. 

Our  Lord,  then,  proposes  Himself  to  us  as  a  good 
Shepherd  who  gives  His  life  for  His  sheep.  This 
expression  is  often  used  as  a  figure  of  speech.  We 
say  that  such  a  one  would  lay  down  his  life  for  some 
person  or  object,  to  express  his  great  attachment 
to  that  person  or  object.  But,  in  this  case,  there  is 
no  figure  of  speech.  It  is  a  literal  truth.  Our 
blessed  Lord  has  so  loved  us,  as  to  lay  down  His  life 
for  us.  He  came  into  the  world  to  seek  the  stray 
sheep  of  His  fold:  for,  "we  all,  like  sheep,  had  gone 
astray."  (Is.  LIU;  6.)  He  fulfilled  that  which  was 
written  of  Him  by  the  Prophet:  "He  shall  feed  His 
flock  like  a  shepherd.  He  shall  gather  together  the 
lambs  with  His  Arm,  and  shall  take  them  up  in  His 
Bosom."  (Is.  XL;  II.)  After  having  spent  His 


ST.  THOMAS  OF  CANTERBURY        161 

life  in  seeking  and  saving  the  sheep  of  His  fold,  He 
filled  up  the  measure  of  His  love  for  them,  by  suffer- 
ing the  last  extremity  of  death  for  their  sake. 

During  this  holy  season,  we  behold  our  good  Shep- 
herd in  the  first  stage  of  His  journey  in  search  of  His 
lost  sheep.  We  behold  Him  stretched  in  the  manger 
of  Bethlehem.  And,  as  if  to  remind  us  of  His  true 
character  and  mission,  He  was  pleased  to  summon,  as 
His  first  adorers,  the  shepherds  who  kept  the  night- 
watches  over  their  flocks  on  the  hillsides  of  Bethle- 
hem. How  great  is  the  love  of  our  good  Shepherd 
for  His  flock!  He  might  have  saved  us  in  any  way 
He  pleased!  But  He  chose  to  die  for  us;  in  order 
to  prove  to  us  that  His  love  required  of  Him  the 
sacrifice  of  everything,  even  of  His  life. 

But,  in  estimating  the  love  of  Jesus  Christ,  we 
should  consider  not  only  what  He  has  sacrificed  for 
us,  but  also  the  terrible  doom  from  which  we  have 
been  preserved  by  the  sacrifice  of  His  life.  Had 
He  not  come  as  the  good  Shepherd  to  rescue  us,  we 
should  all  have  fallen  a  helpless  prey  to  the  infernal 
wolf,  the  devil.  We  entered  this  world  as  strangers 
to  God's  fold;  and  had  not  the  good  Shepherd 
gathered  us  into  that  fold,  we  could  never  have 
found  our  way  into  it;  and  the  longer  we  had  lived, 
the  farther  should  we  have  strayed;  and  most 
certainly  have  fallen,  sooner  or  later,  into  the  jaws 
of  the  wolf.  And  what  does  that  mean?  It  means 
an  eternity  of  misery;  our  devious  wanderings  in  the 
by-ways  of  error  and  sin  would  have  brought  us  to 
the  brink  of  the  abyss,  from  which  there  is  no  escape 


162  SERMONS  FOR  THE  YEAR 

and  no  retreat.  For  when  once  the  soul  has  made 
the  fatal  plunge  into  that  abyss,  there  it  must  re- 
main for  all  eternity,  a  prey  to  the  devouring  flames 
which  were  enkindled  for  the  devil  and  his  angels. 
On  the  other  hand,  the  soul  that  has  been  rescued 
by  the  good  Shepherd  from  the  grip  of  the  infernal 
wolf,  is  carried  by  Him,  in  his  Bosom,  to  the  pas- 
tures of  eternal  life,  to  the  ever-verdant  lawns  of 
Paradise,  where  it  is  forever  secure  from  the  attacks 
of  the  marauding  wolf,  where  it  remains  forever  in 
the  enjoyment  of  eternal  bliss.  These  great  bless- 
ings— our  escape  from  the  jaws  of  hell,  and  our  ad- 
mission to  the  heavenly  courts,  we  owe  entirely  to 
the  compassionate  love  of  the  good  Shepherd. 

Again,  my  brethren,  it  was  not  enough  for  the 
good  Shepherd  to  die  for  His  sheep.  His  death 
opened  to  us  the  gates  of  life;  but  there  is  much  to 
be  done  in  us  and  for  us,  before  we  can  be  found 
worthy  to  enter  therein.  Hence,  during  the  whole 
term  of  life  allotted  to  us,  we  are,  each  of  us,  the  sin- 
gular objects  of  His  pastoral  care  and  solicitude. 
As  long  as  we  live,  even  whilst  we  are  within  the  fold, 
we  are  ever  prone  to  go  astray  from  it ;  and  our  enemy 
never  ceases  from  using  every  stratagem  to  entice 
us  from  that  fold,  so  that  we  may  fall  an  easy  prey 
to  his  subtle  devices  for  our  destruction.  Here, 
again,  the  love  of  the  good  Shepherd  manifests  itself 
in  the  wonderful  help  and  safeguards  which  He  has 
devised  to  protect  His  flock  from  these  manifold 
dangers.  First  of  all,  He  has  built  up  a  fold  for  His 
sheep,  by  establishing  His  Church.  That  fold  He 


ST.  THOMAS  OF  CANTERBURY         163 

has  built  upon  an  imperishable  foundation,  upon 
the  rock  Peter.  He  has  fenced  it  round  with  His 
holy  precepts  and  ordinances.  He  has  made  it 
impregnable  against  all  the  assaults  of  the  powers 
of  darkness.  He  has  provided  it  with  pastors,  to 
watch  over  the  flock  in  His  Name  and  Authority. 

And  here,  my  brethren,  let  me  remind  you  of  the 
great  Pastor  whose  solemnity  we  celebrate  to-day, 
on  whose  account  the  Church  reads  you  this  dis- 
course on  the  good  Shepherd  at  the  gospel  of  the 
Mass.  How  faithfully  did  he  imitate  the  Chief 
Shepherd,  in  his  solicitude  for  the  flock  committed 
to  his  charge!  Nay,  he  must  also  imitate  Him  by 
shedding  his  blood,  and  laying  down  his  life  for  his 
sheep.  St.  Thomas  of  Canterbury  is  one  of  the  very 
few  English  Saints  whose  feasts  are  observed  by  the 
universal  Church;  he  is  moreover  venerated  by  the 
Clergy  of  England  as  their  special  Protector  in  the 
court  of  Heaven.  Whilst  then,  you  meditate  on 
the  love  of  the  good  Shepherd,  forget  not  to  thank 
Him  for  having  raised  up  a  shepherd  such  as  Thomas 
was,  to  watch  over  His  flock;  and  beg  of  Him  to  in- 
spire all  the  pastors  of  the  Church  with  the  like 
constancy,  fortitude,  and  zeal  for  God's  honour,  and 
the  rights  and  liberties  of  His  Spouse,  the  Church. 
And  to  inspire  us,  the  sheep  of  the  fold,  with  docility 
to  their  teaching;  that  both,  pastors  and  flock,  being 
united  with  each  other,  and  with  the  Prince  of 
Pastors,  may  never  wander  from  the  fold. 

In  the  next  place,  let  us  consider  what  abundant 
and  delicious  pastures  the  good  Shepherd  has  pro- 


164  SERMONS  FOR  THE  YEAR 

vided  within  His  fold  for  His  faithful  sheep — fulfilling 
that  saying  of  the  Psalmist — Thou  shalt  inebriate 
"them  with  the  plenty  of  Thy  house;  and  Thou  shalt 
make  them  drink  of  the  torrent  of  Thy  pleasure." 
(Ps.  XXXV;  9.)  He  has  opened  out  so  many  foun- 
tains of  salvation  in  the  holy  sacraments,  which  are 
torrents  of  grace,  perpetually  welling  forth  from 
His  Sacred  Heart,  whereat  the  faithful  may  come 
and  drink  their  fill,  and  be  saturated  with  their  life- 
giving  stream.  Every  want  of  theirs  is  provided 
for,  and  there  is  nothing  left  for  them  to  desire.  In 
baptism,  they  receive  the  adoption  of  members  of 
Christ's  fold.  In  confirmation,  they  receive  an  in- 
delible mark,  which  stamps  them  as  His  flock  for- 
ever. And  when,  unhappily,  they  have  wandered 
from  the  fold,  and  are  brought  back  by  the  loving 
care  of  their  Shepherd,  all  torn  and  bleeding  from 
the  clutches  of  the  wolf,  they  are  bathed  in  His 
precious  Blood,  by  the  sacrament  of  penance,  and 
restored  to  life  and  health  and  strength.  When 
they  fall  sick,  and  the  time  draws  near  for  their 
translation  from  this  temporary  fold  to  the  pastures 
of  eternal  life,  and  when  they  are,  more  than  ever, 
exposed  to  the  attacks  of  the  wolf,  and  when  they 
stand,  more  than  ever,  in  need  of  the  care  of  the  good 
Shepherd,  He  has  provided  them  with  a  holy  unction, 
which  shall  heal  all  their  wounds,  strengthen  them  for 
their  last  conflict,  and  prepare  them  to  be  admitted 
to  His  eternal  fold.  But  the  greatest  proof  of  His 
love  is  to  be  found  in  the  adorable  sacrament  of  the 
holy  Eucharist,  in  which  the  good  Shepherd  seems,  if 


ST.  THOMAS  OF  CANTERBURY       165 

possible,  to  have  surpassed  even  the  love  which  He 
showed  in  laying  down  His  life  for  His  sheep.  For, 
in  this  sacrament,  He  not  only  gives  His  Body  to  be 
nailed  to  the  cross  for  them — he  not  only  gives  the 
last  drop  of  His  Blood  to  be  shed  for  them,  but  He 
must  needs  give  them  that  Body  and  that  Blood  to 
be  their  food.  Thus,  the  Shepherd  and  the  sheep 
become,  in  truth,  one.  He  lays  down  His  life  for 
them,  and  He  gives  them  His  life  that  they  may  be 
made  partakers  of  that  life;  that  this  Blood  may 
flow  in  their  veins,  that  they  may  truly  live  by  Him. 
Such,  my  brethren,  are  some  few  of  the  thoughts 
which  are  suggested  to  us  by  this  beautiful  expres- 
sion of  our  divine  Lord,  in  which  He  represents  Him- 
self to  us  as  the  good  Shepherd.  Let  us  then  show 
our  gratitude  to  Him  for  all  that  He  has  done  for  us, 
by  being  docile  to  His  Voice;  by  keeping  faithfully 
within  the  limits  of  His  fold ;  by  refreshing  ourselves 
constantly  with  those  copious  streams  of  grace, 
which  are  perpetually  flowing  from  the  Saviour's 
fountains  in  the  holy  sacraments.  (Is.  XII;  3.) 
And  may  the  holy  martyr-pontiff,  St.  Thomas,  aid 
us  by  his  powerful  intercession,  that  when  the 
Prince  of  pastors  shall  appear,  we  may  be  worthy 
to  receive  at  His  hands,  the  never-fading  crown  of 
glory. 


166  SERMONS  FOR  THE  YEAR 

SUNDAY  WITHIN  THE  OCTAVE  OF 

CHRISTMAS. 
(Dec.  30.    From  the  Gospel) 

"And  she  was  a  widow  until  jour  score  and  jour 
years,  who  departed  not  from  the  temple,  by  fastings 
and  prayers  serving  night  and  day."  (Luke  II;  37.) 

During  this  holy  festival  which  we  are  now  cele- 
brating, our  first  and  chief  solicitude  ought  to  be  to 
bring  to  the  celebration  of  it  those  dispositions  which 
may  make  us  most  acceptable  to  our  Infant-Saviour : 
so  that  it  may  not  be  said  of  us  that  our  Lord  came 
unto  His  own,  and  His  own  received  Him  not.  (John 
I;  11.)  Joyful  as  is  the  Feast  of  Christmas  to  all 
men,  its  true  joys  come  only  to  those  who  keep  it  in 
the  Christian  spirit  of  fervour  and  devotion.  For 
our  example,  then,  and  encouragement,  the  holy 
gospels  put  before  us  many  examples  of  those  who, 
indeed,  received  our  Lord  as  He  ought  to  be  received, 
and  merited  thereby  to  obtain  the  adoption  of 
the  children  of  God.  Thus,  there  were  Mary  and 
Joseph,  who  never  left  the  divine  Infant,  and  kept 
pondering  in  their  hearts  on  the  depths  of  this  inef- 
fable mystery.  There  were  the  shepherds,  who  left 
their  flocks  on  the  hill-side,  and  came  to  adore  their 
new-born  Saviour.  There  were  the  Eastern  Kings, 
who  left  their  thrones  and  dominions  in  the  far  East, 
and  came  to  lay  their  gifts  at  the  Feet  of  the  King  of 
kings.  And  the  gospel  of  this  Sunday  records  how 
He  was  received  by  holy  Simeon  and  devout  Anna,  in 
the  Temple,  on  the  day  of  His  Presentation.  I  wish, 


THE  OCTAVE  OF  CHRISTMAS         167 

then,  to  ask  you  to  meditate  on  what  is  recorded  of 
this  devout  woman,  that  you  may  learn  from  her 
what  ought  to  be  your  dispositions,  in  order  worthily 
to  keep  this  feast  of  Christmas;  and  to  partake 
freely  of  its  graces  and  blessings. 

We  find  that  she  is  commended  in  the  holy  gospel 
for  her  chaste  widowhood,  and  the  virtues  and  auster- 
ities by  which  she  sanctified  it.  Chastity  is  the 
brightest  gem  which  glitters  in  the  crown  of  the  vir- 
tues. It  is  that  which  raises  our  corrupt  nature  to  a 
level  with  that  of  the  angels.  It  is  a  virtue  most 
dear  to  our  divine  Lord.  For,  He  Who  would,  in 
every  other  respect  choose  ignominy  and  baseness 
for  His  own  portion,  when  He  became  Incarnate, 
would,  nevertheless,  be  born  of  an  immaculate  Virgin. 
He  would  have  His  coming  proclaimed  by  one  who  is 
styled  an  angel,  pure  from  his  very  birth.  He  would 
have  His  birth  announced  by  a  choir  of  angels.  He 
would  summon  as  His  first  worshippers  humble  shep- 
herds watching  the  night  through  in  continence, 
whilst  the  rest  of  the  world  was  wrapped  in  slumber. 
He  would  celebrate  His  birth  by  a  holocaust  of  vir- 
ginal innocents.  And,  lastly,  He  would  manifest 
Himself  to  this  devout  widow,  who  had  lived  in  the 
state  of  continence  during  her  long  widowhood.  We 
may  gather  from  all  this,  how  necessary  it  is  for  us  to 
cultivate  this  great  virtue,  in  order  that  we  may  be 
acceptable  to  our  divine  Ix>rd,  and  appear  before 
Him  with  suitable  dispositions. 

There  are  various  degrees  of  chastity;  the  highest 
and  most  excellent  of  which  is  that  of  virginity,  of 


168  SERMONS  FOR  THE  YEAR 

which  state  our  Lord  has  said :  "he  that  can  take,  let 
him  take  it."  (Matt.  XIX;  12.)  This  state  is  not 
of  precept,  but  only  of  counsel;  and  happy  are  they 
who  have  the  grace  to  follow  this  counsel.  For, 
firstly,  they  shall,  according  to  the  apostle,  be  spared 
much  "tribulation  of  the  flesh,"  (I  Cor.  VII;  28)  by 
overcoming  the  sting  of  concupiscence,  and  bringing 
into  subjection  the  rebellious  body,  which  is  ever 
warring  against  the  spirit,  and  clogging  it  with  sen- 
sual desires  which  check  its  heavenward  aspirations. 
Again,  such  shall  have  great  joy  and  contentment  in 
the  service  of  Almighty  God,  because  their  service  is 
undivided.  "The  unmarried  woman  and  the  virgin 
thinketh  on  the  things  of  the  Lord,  that  she  may  be 
holy  both  in  body  and  in  spirit.  But  she  that  is 
married  thinketh  on  the  things  of  the  world,  how  she 
may  please  her  husband."  (34.)  Lastly,  such  shall 
have  a  special  and  exceeding  glory  in  heaven,  which 
is  thus  described  to  us  by  the  virgin-apostle,  in  words 
which  have  been  adopted  by  the  Church  for  the  feast 
of  Holy  Innocents,  which  we  are  still  celebrating: 
"And  they  sung  as  it  were  a  new  canticle  before  the 
throne,  and  no  man  could  say  the  canticle,  but  those 
144,000,  who  were  purchased  for  the  earth — these 
are  the  undefiled  ones,  for  they  are  virgins:  these 
follow  the  Lamb  whithersoever  He  goeth."  (Apoc. 
XIV;  3,  4.)  Such,  my  dear  brethren,  are  the  great 
rewards  held  out  to  those  who  aspire  to  this  holy 
state.  Let  him  take  it  who  can:  and  we  know  that 
we  "can  do  all  things  in  Him  who  strengthened  us." 
(Phil.  IV;  13.) 


THE  OCTAVE  OF  CHRISTMAS         169 

The  next  degree  of  chastity  is  that  of  widowhood, 
of  continence  after  marriage,  whether  the  marriage 
be  dissolved  by  the  death  of  one  of  the  parties,  or 
whether  they  agree  so  to  live,  in  order  to  give  them- 
selves up  to  the  undivided  service  of  God.  This  also 
is  a  holy  state,  supported  by  special  graces,  and  re- 
warded by  a  special  crown.  Under  the  old  law,  rare 
indeed  were  the  instances  of  the  state  of  virginity; 
and  rare  too  were  those  of  the  state  of  professed 
widowhood.  Hence,  the  example  of  the  holy  widow, 
Anna,  stands  out  with  increased  lustre.  But  under 
the  new  law  of  grace  and  life  and  the  interior  work- 
ings of  the  Holy  Spirit,  this  state  was  at  once  exalted 
to  a  prominent  position  in  the  Christian  Church. 
Like  that  of  virginity,  it  is  not  of  precept,  but  only 
of  counsel.  Hear  then  how  the  apostle  counsels  it: 
"A  woman  is  bound  by  the  law  as  long  as  her  husband 
liveth :  but  if  her  husband  die,  she  is  at  liberty;  let  her 
marry  to  whom  she  will,  only  in  the  Lord.  But 
more  blessed  shall  she  be,  if  she  so  remain,  according 
to  my  counsel,  and  I  think  that  I  also  have  the  Spirit 
of  God."  (I  Cor.  VII;  39,  44.)  The  conditions  of 
this  holy  state  are  clearly  laid  down  in  the  example 
of  Anna,  who  lived  in  the  Temple,  and  spent  her  days 
and  nights  in  fasting  and  in  prayer.  Similar  to  this 
was  the  example  of  that  other  great  pattern  of  the 
widowed  state,  Judith,  who  "made  herself  a  private 
chamber  in  the  upper  part  of  her  house,  in  which  she 
abode,  shut  up  with  her  maids.  And  she  wore  hair- 
cloth upon  her  loins,  and  fasted  all  the  days  of  her 
life,  except  the  Sabbath  and  new  moons  and  the 


170  SERMONS  FOR  THE  YEAR 

feasts  of  the  house  of  Israel."  (Judith  VIII;  5,  6.) 
Again,  the  apostle  prescribes:  "She  that  is  a  widow 
indeed,  and  desolate,  let  her  trust  in  God,  and  con- 
tinue in  supplications  and  prayers,  night  and  day. 
For  she  that  liveth  in  pleasures,  is  dead  while  she  is 
living."  (I  Tim.  V;  5,  6.)  I,et  such,  then,  as  have, 
by  God's  providence,  been  brought  to  this  state,  fol- 
low His  holy  inspirations,  and  sanctify  it  by  willingly 
embracing  its  holy  duties  and  obligations.  For  then 
shall  they  gain  great  grace  and  merit,  which  they 
altogether  forfeit  who,  though  widowed,  know  not 
what  it  is  to  be  spiritually  such,  and  perhaps  make 
it  an  occasion  of  sin  by  repining  at  the  dispensations 
of  God's  providence. 

The  third  degree  of  chastity  is  in  the  married  state. 
This  also  is  a  great  virtue,  requiring  a  special  sacra- 
mental grace,  and  recompensed  by  great  rewards. 
To  a  certain  extent,  it  is,  of  course,  of  precept,  being 
an  essential  virtue,  the  infringement  of  which  is  a 
mortal  offence  against  God :  but,  beyond  this,  there 
is  also  a  counsel  to  all  Christians,  to  observe  conti- 
nence hi  the  married  state,  as  far  as  it  is  compati- 
ble with  its  obligations.  "This  therefore  I  say 
brethren:  the  time  is  short:  it  remaineth  that  they 
also  who  have  wives,  be  as  if  they  had  none;  and 
they  that  use  this  world,  as  if  they  used  it  not,  for 
the  fashion  of  this  world  passeth  away."  (I  Cor.  VII; 
29,  31.)  The  great  patriarch,  Job,  who  is  a  pattern 
of  the  wedded  state,  "made  a  covenant  with  his  eyes 
that  he  would  not  so  much  as  think  upon  a  virgin." 
(Job.  XXXI;  1.)  But  if  this  holy  man  had  such  a 


THE  OCTAVE  OF  CHRISTMAS         171 

regard  for  the  chastity  of  the  married  state  under  the 
old  dispensation,  what  should  be  the  estimation  of  it 
among  those  who  contract  Christian  marriage,  a 
contract  which  our  Lord  has  raised  to  the  dignity  of 
a  sacrament ;  and  to  which  He  has  given  a  significance 
altogether  mystical  and  sublime.  For  it  signifies  no 
less  than  the  union  of  Christ  with  His  spouse,  the 
Church.  As  it  is  impossible  for  the  Church  to  divide 
her  allegiance  with  any  other  than  her  own  true 
spouse,  Jesus  Christ ;  so  also  would  it  be  sacrilegious 
for  a  Christian  husband  or  wife  to  yield  their  mem- 
bers to  serve  iniquity,  (Rom.  VI;  19)  thereby  per- 
verting, as  much  as  in  them  lies,  the  mystical  signi- 
ficance of  this  sacrament;  namely,  the  perfect  love 
and  union  which  subsists  between  Christ  and  His 
Church.  Let  those,  therefore,  who  are  engaged  in 
this  state,  sanctify  it  by  their  fidelity  to  its  Christian 
obligations,  and  especially  by  observing  the  chastity 
which  is  proper  to  it. 

Let  me  exhort  all  of  you,  hi  whatever  state  of  life 
God  has  placed  you,  to  foster  this  holy  virtue,  to 
cherish  it  as  your  greatest  treasure;  the  more  so,  as 
we  are  obliged  to  keep  it  in  frail  vessels,  in  these  tab- 
ernacles of  sinful  clay  which  we  inhabit.  But,  my 
dear  brethren,  the  more  arduous  the  struggle,  the 
more  glorious  is  the  victory;  and  the  omnipotent 
grace  of  God  will  never  be  wanting  to  us,  to  enable 
us  to  gain  the  victory  over  all  the  temptations  of  the 
devil,  the  world  and  the  flesh.  That  you  may  abound 
the  more  in  that  grace,  kneel  before  the  crib  of  Bethle- 
hem ;  see  there  the  pure,  innocent  Babe,  Who  is  your 


172  SERMONS  FOR  THE  YEAR 

God.  Learn  from  His  example  how  much  He  prizes 
this  holy  virtue;  and  go  not  thence,  until  He  has 
bestowed  on  you  grace  to  enable  you  to  practice  it 
more  faithfully,  that  you  may  obtain  that  perfect 
purity  of  heart,  to  which  alone  is  promised  the  beatific 
vision  of  God  in  Heaven:  "Blessed  are  the  clean  of 
heart,  for  they  shall  see  God. ' '  (Matth.  V ;  8.) 


SUNDAY  WITHIN  THE  OCTAVE  OF 
CHRISTMAS. 

(From  the  Lesson.) 

"God  sent  His  Son,  made  of  a  woman,  made  under 
the  law,  that  He  might  redeem  them  who  were  under  the 
law,  that  we  might  receive  the  adoption  of  sons.'1 
(Gal.  IV;  4,  5) 

Whilst  we  are  celebrating  the  incarnation  and 
birth  of  God  the  Son,  the  Church,  very  opportunely, 
in  this  Sunday's  lesson,  reminds  us  of  the  great  bless- 
ing we  have  received  in  our  own  spiritual  regenera- 
ation  and  birth,  through  the  sacrament  of  baptism. 
This  is  the  reason  why  the  Son  of  God  became  Man : 
it  was  that  we  might  become  the  sons  of  God.  By 
baptism,  therefore,  the  fruits  of  the  incarnation  are 
applied  to  our  souls.  That  sacrament  is  absolutely 
necessary  for  salvation:  for  no  one  can  enter  heaven, 
who  has  not,  hi  baptism,  received  the  adoption  of  the 
sons  of  God.  But,  my  brethren,  it  is  not  enough 
once  to  have  received  that  adoption,  unless  we  pre- 
serve it  through  life.  Since  we  cannot  be  baptized 
over  again,  it  behooves  us  to  keep  our  baptism  with- 


THE  OCTAVE  OF  CHRISTMAS  173 

out  blame,  as  the  Church  exhorts  us  in  her  ritual. 
So  solicitous  is  the  Church  for  the  salvation  of  her 
children,  that  she  commands  that  the  infant,  as  soon 
as  it  is  born  into  this  world,  shall  be  brought  to  the 
baptismal  font,  and  there  be  washed  from  original 
sin,  and  receive  the  robe  of  grace.  So  that  we  were 
baptized,  when  as  yet  we  were  unconscious  of  what 
was  being  done  for  us.  But  this  does  not  exempt  us 
from  the  duty  of  considering  this  subject  seriously, 
when  we  arrive  at  maturer  years.  Though  the  bap- 
tism itself  is  a  thing  of  the  past,  yet  its  effects  belong 
to  the  present  and  to  the  future,  and  upon  those  ef- 
fects depends  the  eternal  salvation  of  our  soul.  Let 
us,  then,  consider  some  of  those  effects,  in  order  that 
we  may  see  how  far  we  have  been  faithful  or  other- 
wise to  our  baptismal  vows,  and  may  make  suitable 
resolutions  to  renew  the  promises  we  then  made,  and 
to  walk  worthily  of  the  vocation  to  which  we  were 
then  called,  of  being  children  of  God,  and  co-heirs 
with  Christ.  These  effects  are  generally  enumerated 
thus: 

I.  Baptism  makes  us  members  of  the  Body  of 
Christ.  St.  Paul  says:  "As  many  of  you  as  have 
been  baptized  in  Christ,  have  put  on  Christ."  (Gal. 
Ill;  27.)  Before  baptism,  we  were  under  the  curse 
of  original  sin;  we  were  cut  off  from  the  grace  of  God, 
and  had  no  share  in  those  supernatural  rewards 
which  God  has  destined  for  those  who  belong  to  Him 
through  divine  grace.  God  created  man  upright  in 
the  beginning ;  but  through  the  sin  of  our  first  parents 
our  nature  forfeited  its  uprightness:  and  whilst  we 


174  SERMONS  FOR  THE  YEAR 

remained  in  this  fallen  state,  we  could  do  nothing  to 
regain  our  lost  inheritance;  we  were  utterly  helpless; 
in  fact,  all  we  could  do  was  to  go  farther  and  farther 
astray,  in  consequence  of  the  corruption  of  our 
nature.  But  baptism  opens  to  us  the  way  of  regain- 
ing all  these  great  and  glorious  graces  and  blessings, 
by  engrafting  us  into  the  mystical  Body  of  Christ, 
Whose  merits  are  infinite,  and  Whose  merits  become 
our  own  by  virtue  of  holy  baptism.  This  mystical 
Body  of  Christ  is  the  Church.  Hence,  the  Church 
consists  of  all  those  who  have  been  lawfully  baptized, 
and  who  have  not  forfeited  the  rights  which  they  ob- 
tained by  their  baptism.  St.  Paul  is  never  weary  of 
reminding  the  faithful,  how  great  is  the  privilege  they 
enjoy  in  being  members  of  the  Body  of  Christ,  and 
what  important  consequences  flow  from  this  prin- 
ciple. For,  it  follows  therefrom  that  we  become 
partakers  in  His  infinite  merits;  and  our  actions  are 
esteemed  by  Him,  as  if  done  by  Himself. 

II.  In  the  second  place,  in  baptism  we  receive  a 
full  and  free  pardon  of  all  our  sins,  and  the  infusion 
of  sanctifying  grace,  whereby  we  become  the  friends 
of  God.  If  baptism  makes  us  members  of  Christ,  it 
follows  necessarily  that  we  escape  all  condemnation 
which  we  have  deserved  for  our  manifold  sins. 
Otherwise,  Christ  would  be  condemned  hi  His  mem- 
bers, which  is  impossible.  Hence,  the  apostle  says : 
"There  is  now,  therefore,  no  condemnation  to  them 
that  are  in  Christ  Jesus."  (Rom.  VIII;  1.)  Bap- 
tism destroys  our  old  nature  of  sin,  and  builds  up  a 
new  structure  of  grace;  "for  we  are  buried  together 


THE  OCTAVE  OF  CHRISTMAS         175 

with  Him  by  baptism  unto  death."  (Rom.  VI;  4.) 
It  undoes  the  work  of  the  devil  in  corrupting  our  first 
parents;  so  that  when  the  saving  waters  of  baptism 
flow  upon  our  head,  we  "put  off,  according  to  the 
former  conversation,  the  old  man  who  is  corrupted 
according  to  the  desires  of  error;  and  we  put  on  the 
new  man,  who,  according  to  God,  is  created  in  justice, 
and  holiness  of  truth."  Hence  Baptism  is  called  the 
Laver  of  regeneration,  because  it  effects  in  us,  as  it 
were,  a  new  creature,  destroying  the  man  of  sin,  and 
planting  within  us  the  seeds  of  justice,  holiness  and 
truth. 

III.  The  third  effect  of  baptism  is  that  it  makes 
us  children  of  God  by  His  grace.  Before  baptism, 
we  were  indeed  the  creatures  of  God,  but  the  objects 
of  His  displeasure,  because  of  the  deformity  of  our 
souls  in  being  deprived  of  His  grace.  By  grace  is 
meant  the  favour  and  friendship  of  God,  which  we 
forfeited  through  sin.  In  holy  baptism  that  grace  is 
infused  into  our  souls  by  the  Holy  Ghost  Who  is  given 
to  us :  the  effect  of  which  is,  that  we  are  born  again, 
this  time  not  "of  the  will  of  the  flesh,  nor  of  the  will 
of  man,  but  of  God,"  (John  I;  13.)  and  that 
we  receive  power  to  become  the  children  of  God. 
St.  Peter  says :  We  are  "born  again,  not  of  corruptible 
seed,  but  incorruptible,  by  the  Word  of  God."  (I 
Pet.  I;  23.)  This  second  birth  to  the  sonship  of  God 
is  not  a  transient  thing,  lasting  only  for  a  time,  but  it 
endures  forever,  until,  that  is  to  say,  we  forfeit  it  by 
our  own  act  and  deed.  "The  seed  of  God  abideth  in 
us."  (John  III ;  9.)  This  is  why,  my  dear  brethren, 


176  SERMONS  FOR  THE  YEAR 

we  have  been  taught  by  our  divine  Lord  to  address 
God  in  our  prayers  by  no  other  name  than  the  sweet 
name  of  Father;  for  we  have  received  the  spirit  of 
adoption  of  sons,  whereby  we  cry,  "Abba,  Father.' 
For  the  Spirit  Himself  giveth  testimony  to  our 
spirit,  that  we  are  the  sons  of  God."  (Rom.  VIII; 
15,  16.) 

IV.  The  fourth  effect  of  baptism  is  that  it  gives 
us  a  title  to  the  Kingdom  of  heaven.  This  indeed 
is  the  end  of  the  holy  sacrament;  for,  as  all  things  are 
ordained  by  God  towards  the  salvation  of  souls,  so 
especially  the  grace  of  adoption,  which  we  receive  in 
holy  baptism,  is  intended  to  secure  to  us  the  posses- 
sion, the  eternal  possession,  of  our  paternal  inherit- 
ance in  heaven.  Of  this  inheritance,  nothing  but  the 
malice  of  our  own  will  can  deprive  us.  'For  imme- 
diately we  are  baptized,  we  acquire  a  right  to  heaven, 
which  is  equal  to  that  of  Christ  Himself;  for,  being 
incorporated  with  Him,  we  become  partakers  of  His 
rights  and  privileges.  "If  we  are  sons,"  says  the 
apostle,  "we  are  heirs  also,  heirs  indeed  of  God,  and 
joint-heirs  with  Christ."  (Rom.  VIII;  17.)  How 
grateful  ought  we  to  be  to  Almighty  God,  Who,  in 
His  infinite  Goodness,  without  any  merit  on  our  part, 
or  rather,  in  spite  of  our  demerits,  has  bestowed  upon 
us  this  magnificent  inheritance,  which,  even  in  this 
life  cannot  be  taken  from  us,  except  with  our  own 
deliberate  consent,  and  which,  in  the  next  life,  will  be 
secure  to  us  for  all  eternity.  "Blessed  be  the  God 
and  Father  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  \\(ho,  according 
to  His  great  Mercy  hath  regenerated  us  unto  a  lively 


THE  OCTAVE  OF  CHRISTMAS         177 

hope,  by  the  resurrection  of  Jesus  Christ  from  the 
dead,  unto  an  inheritance  incorruptible  and  unde- 
filed,  and  that  cannot  fade,  reserved  in  heaven."  (I 
Pet.  I;  3,  4.) 

V.  The  fifth  effect  of  baptism  is  to  infuse  into  the 
soul,  along  with  the  remission  of  sin  and  punishment, 
and  the  gift  of  sanctifying  grace,  the  special  gifts  of 
the  three  theological  virtues,  Faith,  Hope  and  Charity ; 
together  with  the  moral  virtues,  and  the  gifts  of  the 
Holy  Ghost.  "He  saved  us  by  the  laver  of  regenera- 
tion, and  renovation  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  Whom  He 
hath  poured  forth  upon  us  abundantly  through  Jesus 
Christ  our  Saviour."  (Tit.  Ill;  5,  6.)  Baptism 
unites  the  soul  to  God;  and  this  union  is  effected 
through  the  habits  of  the  three  theological  virtues 
which  are  then  infused  into  the  soul.  By  faith,  we 
cleave  to  God  as  to  the  sovereign  Truth,  and  submit 
our  understanding  to  His  revealed  Word.  By  Hope, 
we  cleave  to  Him  as  to  our  sovereign  Good,  from 
Whom  we  expect  eternal  happiness,  and  the  means 
of  obtaining  that  happiness.  By  Charity,  we  cleave 
to  God  as  the  sovereign  Object  of  our  love,  in  Whom 
the  heart  of  man  finds  the  complete  fruition  of  all 
its  desires  and  affections.  Again,  in  baptism,  there 
are  infused  into  the  soul  the  habits  of  all  the  moral 
virtues,  Prudence,  Justice,  Fortitude,  Temperance 
and  the  rest,  enabling  us  to  avoid  sin,  to  keep  the 
Commandments,  to  perform  good  works  and  to  ac- 
quire merits  We  receive  the  Holy  Ghost,  Who, 
thenceforward  makes  our  soul  His  tabernacle. 


178  SERMONS  FOR  THE  YEAR 

"Know  you  not,"  says  the  apostle,  "That  your  mem- 
bers are  the  temple  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  Who  is  in  you, 
Whom  you  have  from  God?"  (I  Cor.  VI;  19.)  The 
Holy  Ghost,  therefore,  dwells  in  this  regenerated 
Soul,  purifying  and  sanctifying  it  with  His  divine 
Fire,  filling  it  with  all  joy  and  peace,  through  His 
divine  Unction;  for,  where  the  Spirit  of  God  is,  there 
is  all  peace  and  joy. 

All  these  wondrous  works,  my  dear  brethren, 
have  been  accomplished  in  you  when  you  were  bap- 
tized. Look,  therefore,  into  yourselves,  and  see 
whether  you  can  trace  there  these  marvellous  effects 
of  the  Sacrament  you  have  received.  If  the  result  of 
this  inspection  should  not  prove  altogether  satisfac- 
tory, resolve  at  once  to  do  your  utmost  to  revive  in 
yourselves  that  grace  which  has  hitherto  been  al- 
lowed to  lie  dormant  within  you.  If  you  have  here- 
tofore been  unfaithful  to  your  baptismal  vows,  re- 
solve now  to  renew  them  here  in  the  presence  of  our 
Lord,  and  before  His  holy  altar.  And,  for  the  future 
order  your  lives  in  such  a  manner  that  you  may  walk 
worthy  of  the  high  vocation  to  which  you  have  been 
called  of  being  Children  of  God.  (Eph.  IV;  1.) 
members  of  the  Body  of  Jesus  Christ,  and  joint-heirs 
with  Him  of  the  Kingdom  of  heaven.  (Rom.  VIII; 
17.)  "Remember,  O  Christian!"  says  St.  Leo,  "thy 
dignity,  and  do  not  degenerate  from  the  adoption  of 
the  children  of  God  by  unworthy  conversation  of 
life,"  that  you  may  be  worthy  to  enter  into  the  inher- 
itance which  is  reserved  for  you  in  the  heavens.  (I 
Pet.  I;  4.) 


179 

CIRCUMCISION. 

(Jan.  1.     From  the  Gospel.) 

"And  after  eight  days  were  accomplished,  that  the 
Child  should  be  circumcised,  His  Name  was  called 
Jesus,  which  was  called  by  the  angel  before  He  was  con- 
ceived in  the  womb."  (Luke  II;  21.) 

On  this  day,  my  dear  brethren,  our  thoughts  are 
naturally  solicited  to  the  contemplation  of  a  great 
mystery,  the  Circumcision  of  our  Lord;  and  to  the 
consideration  of  a  momentous  fact,  that  on  this  day, 
we  begin  another  year. 

I.  Let  us  then  consider,  in  the  first  place,  the 
wonderful  lesson  of  obedience  which  our  divine  Lord 
gives  us,  in  submitting  to  the  painful  ceremony  of 
circumcision.  When  Almighty  God  solemnly  con- 
firmed to  Abraham  His  promise  of  making  him  the 
Father  of  all  the  faithful,  and  the  stock  from  which 
the  Saviour  of  the  world  should  descend,  He  ratified 
that  promise  by  a  solemn  covenant,  which  is  thus 
described:  "This  is  My  covenant,  which  you  shall 
observe  between  Me  and  You,  and  Thy  seed  after 
thee;  all  the  male  kind  of  you  shall  be  circumcised, 
that  it  may  be  for  a  sign  of  the  covenant  between  Me 
and  you."  (Gen.  XVII;  10, 11.)  Our  blessed  Lord, 
Who,  as  God,  Himself  established  this  covenant 
could  not  Himself  be  subject  to  it;  and  yet,  for  our 
instruction,  He  consented  to  submit  to  it,  to  teach 
us  to  be  zealous  for  God's  holy  law;  and  to  deem  it 
our  highest  happiness,  as  it  is  our  duty,  to  fulfill  all  its 
precepts. 


180  SERMONS  FOR  THE  YEAR 

II.  Again,  let  us  consider  the  lesson  of  humility 
which  our  Lord  teaches  us  in  this  mystery.     Circum- 
cision was,  in  the  old  law,  what  baptism  is  in  the  new. 
It  was  a  sacrament  by  which  those  who  received  it, 
through  faith  in  the  merits  of  their  future  Redeemer 
were  purified  from  original  sin,  and  received  sancti- 
fying grace.     Hence,  it  was  virtually  a  testimony  of 
the  corruption  of  our  nature;  and  he  that  received  it 
bore  in  his  body  the  marks  of  the  degradation  which 
our  nature  had  suffered  through  original  sin.     It  was 
a  perpetual  confession  of  the  weakness  and  corrup- 
tion of  nature,  and  of  the  necessity  under  which  it  lay 
of  being  regenerated  by  the  grace  of  God.     Now,  our 
divine  Lord,  Who  was  conceived  and  born  of  an  im- 
maculate virgin,  by  the  power  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  and 
was  Himself  immaculate,  could  not  possibly  be  sub- 
ject to  this  law.     In  submitting,  then,  to  this  law, 
our  Lord  has  given  us  a  wonderful  example  of  humil- 
ity, which  we  should  do  well  to  ponder.      He  strove 
to  hide  the  Glory  of  His  divinity  and  the  perfections 
of  His  Sacred  Humanity;  whilst  we  are  only  solici- 
tous to  hide  our  imperfections.     How,  then,  can  we 
call  ourselves  His  followers,  when  our  conduct  is  thus 
directly  opposed  to  His? 

III.  Thirdly,  let  us  consider  the  obligations  which 
our  Lord  took  upon  Him  in  receiving  circumcision. 
He  thereby  became,  as  St.  Paul  says,  a  debtor  to  the 
law.     He  took  upon  Himself  the  obligation  of  fulfill- 
ing the  whole  law,  of  which  circumcision  was  the 
initiatory  rite.     He  did  this  in  order  to  fulfill  all  jus- 
tice, and  to  deliver  us  from  the  yoke  of  the  Mosaic 


CIRCUMCISION  181 

law.  For,  in  His  Own  Person,  He  satisfied,  for  all 
of  us,  that  which  we  owed  to  the  law  of  Moses.  But, 
my  brethren,  are  we  thereby  exempt  from  all  obli- 
gations? Far  from  it.  In  abrogating  the  old  law, 
He  established  a  new  one,  more  spiritual,  whose  obli- 
gations are  more  stringent,  in  proportion  to  its  greater 
perfection.  Then,  instead  of  circumcision,  He  insti- 
tuted the  sacrament  of  baptism,  as  a  necessary  con- 
dition of  receiving  the  adoption  of  the  children  of 
God.  (Rom.  VIII;  15.)  Now,  when  you  were  bap- 
tized, you  know  that  you  entered  into  a  solemn  en- 
gagement with  Almighty  God.  There  was  a  solemn 
covenant  by  which  you  swore  to  renounce  Satan, 
with  all  his  works  and  pomps.  How  have  you  ful- 
filled these  obligations,  and  how  are  you  fulfilling 
them  now?  We  must,  then,  submit  to  a  spiritual 
circumcision  by  cutting  off  whatever  is  vicious  in  our 
conduct,  whether  it  be  sensuality,  or  pride,  or  malice, 
or  any  other  evil  root  in  our  nature.  We  must 
mortify  the  flesh,  with  its  vices  and  concupiscences. 
(Gal.  V;  24.)  "Walk  in  the  spirit,  and  you  shall  not 
fulfill  the  lusts  of  the  flesh."  (16).  For,  thus  only 
shall  we  be  faithful  to  the  obligations  we  undertook 
in  our  baptism. 

IV.  Fourthly,  let  us  consider  the  pain  which  our 
Lord  underwent  in  this  ceremony.  A  tender  infant, 
but  eight  days  old,  He  cheerfully  submitted  Himself 
to  the  knife  of  circumcision,  and  already  yearned  to 
shed  His  precious  Blood  for  us,  in  order  that  He 
might  merit  the  sweet  Name  of  Jesus,  or  Saviour, 
which  He  then  received.  I/et  us  learn,  then,  from 


182  SERMONS  FOR  THE  YEAR 

His  example,  to  do  violence  to  ourselves,  and,  like 
Him,  voluntarily  embrace  suffering  as  our  portion; 
or,  if  we  have  not  courage  to  do  this,  at  least  let  us 
endure  patiently  and  even  cheerfully  those  crosses 
which  He  so  mercifully  sends  us  for  our  purification 
and  sanctification.  There  is  no  way  to  heaven  save 
by  the  cross;  and  if  we  were  truly  wise  unto  salvation, 
we  should,  like  the  apostles,  rejoice  to  suffer  for 
Christ's  sake;  (Acts  V;  41)  for  thereby  we  become 
like  unto  Him,  and  lay  up  for  ourselves  a  store  of 
merit  in  heaven. 

I  began  by  saying,  that  besides  the  solemn  mystery 
which  we  celebrate  this  day,  we  are  also  reminded  of 
a  momentous  fact,  that  on  this  day  we  begin  another 
year.  This  fact,  my  brethren,  gives  a  special  reality 
and  earnestness  to  the  few  reflections  I  have  put 
before  you,  derived  from  the  consideration  of  that 
mystery.  If  those  elementary  truths  of  the  spiritual 
life  are  at  all  times  solemn  and  weighty,  as  bearing  so 
intimately  on  our  eternal  salvation,  how  much  more 
on  this  day,  when  we  naturally  look  back  on  the 
manner  of  their  past  fulfillment,  with  its  too  sad  cer- 
tainty; and  look  forward  to  the  future  with  its  possi- 
bilities and  terrible  uncertainty!  "In  the  morning 
man  shall  grow  up  like  grass ;  in  the  morning  he  shall 
flourish  and  pass  away;  in  the  evening  he  shall  fall, 
grow  dry  and  wither."  (Ps.  LXXXIX;  6.)  Let  us, 
then,  bear  in  mind  the  solemn  truth,  that  we  have 
not  here  a  lasting  city;  (Hebr.  XIII;  14)  that  we 
are  as  wayfarers  hastening  towards  the  end  of  our 
journey;  and  let  us  beware  of  loitering  by  the  way, 


CIRCUMCISION  183 

lest  we  be  overtaken  by  the  night  of  death :  and  that 
dread  moment  find  us  empty-handed,  and  far  re- 
moved from  the  goal  of  rest  towards  which  we  ought 
to  be  hastening.  Work  while  it  is  day:  "The  night 
cometh  when  no  man  can  work."  (Joh.  IX;  4.)  I 
have  spoken  of  the  terrible  uncertainty  of  the  new 
year.  How  many  are  there  who,  like  yourselves, 
saw  the  beginning  of  last  year,  and  who  have  not 
been  spared  to  see  its  close?  During  the  year  that 
has  elapsed,  millions  upon  millions  of  human  beings 
have  been  launched  into  eternity  with  all  its  unspeak- 
able consequences;  and  the  year  that  begins  to-day 
will  witness  the  deaths  of  as  many  or  more.  Shall 
none  of  us  be  of  that  number  ?  Which  of  us,  however 
robust  he  may  be  in  health,  or  young  in  years,  can 
promise  himself  with  any  security,  that  he  will  live  to 
see  the  morrow's  dawn,  much  less  the  termination 
of  this  new  year? 

We  ought,  then,  to  resolve  to  spend  this  new  year 
as  if  it  were  really  to  be  our  last  upon  earth.  We 
ought  to  say  with  King  Ezekiel :  "I  said,  in  the  midst 
of  my  days,  I  shall  go  to  the  gates  of  hell.  I  sought 
for  the  residue  of  my  years.  I  said,  I  shall  not  see 
the  Lord  God  in  the  land  of  the  living;  I  shall  behold 
man  no  more,  nor  the  inhabitant  of  rest.  My  gener- 
ation is  at  an  end,  and  it  is  rolled  away  from  me  as  a 
shepherd's  tent.  My  life  is  cut  off  as  by  a  weaver. 
Whilst  I  was  yet  but  beginning,  he  cut  me  off;  from 
morning  even  to  night,  Thou  wilt  make  an  end  of 
me."  (Is.  XXXVIII;  10,  12.)  If,  my  brethren,  we 
enter  upon  this  new  year  in  these  sentiments,  and 


184  SERMONS  FOR  THE  YEAR 

consistently  act  upon  them,  there  can  be  no,  doubt 
that  it  will  be  fruitful  in  graces  and  blessings  for  us ; 
and  we  shall  be  well  prepared  for  our  Lord's  coming. 
If  we  look  back  on  the  past  year,  and  consider  how 
we  have  mis-spent  the  time  which  God  gave  us  to 
work  out  our  salvation,  how  many  sins  shall  we  not 
discover;  what  negligence  in  the  service  of  God;  how 
little  of  that  time  was  given  to  God,  to  Whom  the 
whole  of  it  was  due;  how  many  graces  and  inspira- 
tions of  the  Holy  Spirit  despised;  how  many  good 
resolutions  broken.  If  this  be  so,  at  least,  resolve 
that  the  new  year  shall  find  you  more  earnest  and 
fervent  in  the  practice  of  your  religious  duties.  Time 
was  given  you  to  prepare  for  eternity.  Do  not,  there- 
fore, squander  it  upon  the  empty  things  of  this  world, 
which  can  never  profit  you  in  the  hour  when  time 
shall  be  no  more.  But  lay  up  a  store  of  good  works ; 
for  they  alone  will  be  able  to  accompany  you  out  of 
this  world  into  the  next.  Oh!  my  brethren,  could 
one  of  the  lost  souls  in  hell,  or  even  a  suffering  soul  in 
Purgatory,  obtain  the  grace  which  you  enjoy,  of  be- 
ginning another  year  in  the  meritorious  service  of 
God,  what  think  you  would  be  their  conduct?  They 
would  prize  every  instant  of  that  precious  time;  they 
would  judge  every  moment  lost  that  was  not  spent  in 
a  manner  that  should  merit  for  them  an  eternal  re- 
ward. And  yet,  it  is  only  through  the  infinite  Mercy 
of  Almighty  God  that  each  one  of  us  is  not  now  in 
hell,  paying  the  penalty  of  our  manifold  sins.  Let 
us,  then,  do  now,  what  we  should  most  certainly  do, 
in  the  case  I  have  supposed.  Let  us  redeem  the  time, 


CIRCUMCISION  185 

because  the  days  are  evil.  (Eph.  V;  16.)  And  look 
forward  with  confidence  to  the  blessed  hope  and 
reward  which  is  promised  to  all  who  shall  persevere 
to  the  end. 


CIRCUMCISION. 

(From  the  Lesson.) 

"The  grace  of  God  our  Saviour  hath  appeared  to  all 
men,  instructing  us,  that  denying  ungodliness,  and 
worldly  desires,  we  should  live  soberly,  and  justly,  and 
godly  in  this  world"  (Tit.  II;  11,  12.) 

The  beginning  of  a  new  year,  my  dear  brethren,  is 
a  very  serious  matter  for  everybody.  The  number 
of  our  years,  even  with  the  longest  lived  amongst  us, 
is  but  few:  you  may  soon  count  them  upon  your 
fingers.  Each  of  us  thought,  no  doubt,  on  rising  this 
morning,  that  one  of  those  few  years  which  form  the 
short  span  of  our  life  has  gone  never  to  return ;  whilst 
another  has  commenced.  We  are  all  of  us,  old  and 
young,  one  stage  nearer  to  eternity.  Now,  this 
would  be  a  solemn  thought,  even  if  we  knew  how 
long  would  be  the  duration  of  our  life.  We  should, 
then,  watch  the  revolving  years  with  the  same  anxiety 
as  the  condemned  criminal  counts  the  hours  that  pass 
before  the  time  of  his  execution.  But  it  becomes 
still  more  solemn  and  momentous  when  we  consider 
that,  for  aught  we  know,  the  year  that  has  now  com- 
menced may  be  our  last.  There  is  no  one  here  pre- 
sent now,  however  young  in  years  and  robust  in 
health,  who  can  with  any  certainty  look  forward  to 


186  SERMONS  FOR  THE  YEAR 

survive  its  close.  We  have  only  to  think  how  many 
of  this  congregation  were  alive  and  well  on  this  day 
last  year,  and  are  now  dead  and  gone.  You  have 
seen  them  drop  down,  one  by  one,  and  carried  to  their 
last  resting  place  during  the  year  that  has  elapsed ; 
and,  beyond  all  question,  as  many,  at  least,  of  us 
who  survive  will  on  this  day  next  year  be  numbered 
with  the  dead.  Who  shall  they  be?  Let  each  one 
ask  himself  whether  he  may  not  be  of  the  number. 
And  yet,  why  ask  this  question,  the  answer  to  which 
is  known  to  God  alone,  Who  has  kept  the  times  and 
seasons  in  the  Hands  of  His  Own  Counsel.  Let  us, 
rather,  ask  ourselves  a  question  which  is  much  more 
to  the  purpose.  If  I  should  be  called  out  of  the  world 
during  this  year, shall  I  be  prepared  to  die?  Am  I 
prepared  now  to  appear  before  God?  This  is  a  ques- 
tion we  may  well  ask  ourselves,  which  we  ought  to 
ask  ourselves;  and  we  should  not  rest  until  we  have 
given  it  a  satisfactory  answer. 

The  recurrence,  then,  of  this  anniversary  is  a  grace 
which  God  our  Saviour  has  given  to  all  men.  For 
those  who  are  living  in  habits  of  sin,  or  in  the  neglect 
of  their  religious  duties,  may  easily  let  the  other  great 
Feasts  pass  by  without  a  thought  for  their  souls ;  but 
that  sinner  must  be  hardened  indeed,  who  can  reflect 
without  emotion  on  the  fact  that  another  year  has 
passed,  and  gone  to  swell  the  catalogue  of  his  crimes; 
whilst  another  year  has  commenced  whose  page  is  as 
yet  unsullied  by  any  such  record;  but  which  will, 
if  he  perseveres  in  his  sins,  add  another  page  to  that 
awful  book  of  God's  judgment  from  which  he  will 


CIRCUMCISION  187 

hear  his  condemnation.  Let  us  not,  then,  neglect 
this  grace  which  is  given  to  us.  Let  us  meditate  well 
upon  the  thoughts  which  this  solemn  anniversary  is 
able  to  excite  in  us.  Let  us  listen  to  the  apostle, 
St.  Paul,  who  tells  us  plainly  what  instruction  we  are 
to  derive  from  it.  We  are  to  renounce  'impiety  and 
worldly  desires.'  In  these  words  are  summed  up  all 
the  evils  which  we  have  to  shun.  Impiety,  that  is, 
sinfulness  and  worldliness. 

If  hitherto,  then,  we  have  lived  in  habits  of  sin, 
let  us  now  renounce  them.  If  we  have  been,  hitherto, 
the  slaves  of  pride,  which  is  the  root  of  all  sin,  let  us 
begin  to  be  humble.  See  the  example  of  humility 
which  our  divine  Lord  has  given  us  in  the  stable  of 
Bethlehem,  and  strive  to  imitate  it.  As  pride  is  the 
beginning  of  all  sin,  so  He  would  begin  our  Redemp- 
tion by  humbling  Himself  to  the  lowest  depths  of 
self-abasement.  And  so,  my  brethren,  if  we  would 
reform  our  lives  in  real  earnest,  we  must  begin  by 
humbling  ourselves.  If,  hitherto,  we  have  been 
covetous  of  this  world's  goods,  let  us  now  begin  to  be 
poor  in  spirit.  If  we  have,  hitherto,  been  guilty  of 
impurity  and  sensual  indulgence,  let  us  now  begin  to 
be  pure  and  chaste  in  mind  and  body.  If  we  have, 
hitherto,  harboured  angry,  spiteful  and  revengful 
feelings,  let  us  now  learn  to  be  meek,  and  gentle  and 
forgiving.  If  we  have,  hitherto,  been  addicted  to 
intemperance,  let  us  now  learn  to  live  soberly,  as  be- 
comes Christians.  If,  hitherto,  we  have  been  envious, 
jealous  and  fond  of  our  own  will,  let  us  now  learn  to 
submit  ourselves  to  every  one,  for  Christ's  sake.  If, 


188  SERMONS  FOR  THE  YEAR 

hitherto,  we  have  been  slothful  and  negligent  in 
God's  service,  let  us  now  be  up  and  doing;  and  labour 
more  diligently,  to  make  our  calling  and  election  sure. 

Again,  we  must  renounce  worldly  desires.  It  is 
not  enough  to  renounce  sin,  if  we  do  not  also  renounce 
the  world  and  its  temptations.  The  world  is  ever 
seeking  to  drag  us  along  with  it  in  the  current  of  its 
principles  and  practices,  whose  end  is  perdition.  "For 
all  that  is  in  the  world  is  the  concupiscence  of  the 
flesh,  and  the  concupiscence  of  the  eyes,  and  the 
pride  of  life."  (I  John  II;  16.)  If,  then,  we  would 
avoid  falling  into  this  abyss,  we  must  abandon  all 
sympathy  and  approbation  for  the  world  and  its  evil 
principles.  We  must  set  ourselves  resolutely  against 
them,  against  all  those  insidious  attractions  and  desires 
which  the  world  uses  to  ensnare  its  votaries :  against 
its  books,  its  newspapers,  its  amusements,  its  con- 
versations and  so  forth.  More  especially  must  we  do 
this  at  this  most  holy  season,  which  the  world,  with  a 
perversity  that  always  characterizes  it,  has  devoted 
to  all  kinds  of  profane  and  impure  amusements  and 
sensual  excesses. 

Having  renounced  these  two  great  evils,  impiety 
and  worldliness,  we  must  then  set  ourselves  to  live 
soberly,  justly  and  piously  in  this  world.  We  must  live 
soberly,  by  avoiding  all  intemperance,  and  all  exces- 
sive indulgences  of  our  sensual  appetites.  We  must 
live  justly,  by  doing  the  works  of  justice,  not  only  in 
our  relations  with  our  fellow-creatures,  by  giving  to 
every  one  his  due;  but  also  in  our  duties  towards  God, 
by  rendering  to  Him  that  service  and  that  homage 


CIRCUMCISION  189 

which  He  justly  claims  from  us.  It  is  not  necessary 
for  me  to  point  out  to  you  what  those  duties  are 
which  every  creature  owes  to  God.  You  know  them 
all;  and  they  have  been  frequently  explained  to  you. 
To-day,  then,  it  is  our  solemn  duty  to  renew  our 
resolutions  to  discharge  all  those  obligations  more 
faithfully,  during  the  ensuing  year.  We  must  live 
piously,  by  which  is  meant  that  we  are  not  to  be  satis- 
fied with  the  bare  discharge  of  that  which  is  of  strict 
obligation;  but  we  ought  to  devote  ourselves  wholly 
to  God's  service,  to  love  Him  and  serve  Him  with  our 
whole  heart,  our  whole  soul,  with  all  our  strength, 
and  with  all  our  mind.  Let  us  not  be  satisfied  with 
hearing  Mass  on  Sundays  and  holidays  of  obligation; 
we  should  endeavour  to  assist  at  the  Holy  Sacrifice  as 
often  as  we  possibly  can.  We  should  find  our  great- 
est happiness  in  coming  to  assist  at  all  the  sacred 
offices  of  the  Church:  in  pouring  forth  our  petitions 
to  our  divine  Lord,  Who  always  dwells  in  this  taber- 
nacle. Further,  we  should  not  be  satisfied  with 
merely  fulfilling  the  precept  of  Easter  Communion; 
but,  on  all  the  great  Festivals,  and  as  often  as  the 
Spirit  of  piety  prompts  us,  we  should  be  eager  to 
approach  the  holy  communion,  in  order  to  nourish 
ourselves  with  the  Bread  of  Life,  the  Body  and 
Blood  of  our  Redeemer.  We  ask  God  every  day  to 
give  us  this  day  our  daily  bread;  and  whilst  we  are 
solicitous  enough  for  the  bread  that  perishes,  destined 
to  feed  these  corruptible  bodies,  we  are  altogether 
indifferent  to  the  Bread  of  Life,  coming  down  from 


190  SERMONS  FOR  THE  YEAR 

heaven,  which  is  able  to  nourish  our  souls  unto  ever- 
lasting life. 

Let  no  one  say  that  these  prescriptions  of  the 
Apostle  are  impossible  to  fulfil.  It  may  indeed 
seem  difficult  to  flesh  and  blood — to  renounce  im- 
piety and  worldliness,  to  live  soberly,  justly  and 
piously.  But,  by  the  grace  of  God,  it  is  easy,  and 
abundantly  easy,  where  there  is  a  good  will.  The 
grace  of  God  our  Saviour  hath  appeared  to  all  men, 
teaching  them  this  very  lesson.  And  where  are  we 
to  look  for  this  most  instructive  lesson,  if  not  to  the 
crib  of  Bethlehem?  There  we  see  the  Incarnate 
God,  stretched  on  His  bed  of  straw,  speechless,  it  is 
true,  for  He  is  a  mere  Babe,  but  still  teaching  us,  and 
that  most  eloquently,  by  His  Own  example.  His 
childlike  innocence  and  guilelessness  teach  us  to 
renounce  impiety;  His  voluntary  renunciation  of  all 
earthly  comforts,  and  even  necessaries,  teaches  us  to 
renounce  worldly  desires.  His  life  and  example 
have  made  it  possible  and  easy  for  us  to  live  soberly 
and  justly  and  piously  in  this  world.  For  He  came 
to  set  us  this  example;  and  the  grace  that  He  will  give 
us  enables  us  to  follow  that  example. 

Those,  then,  who  feel  that  they  are  weak,  and  have 
need  of  strength  and  help  from  above,  have  but  to 
approach  humbly  and  confidently  our  Infant  Saviour, 
and  implore  this  grace  of  Him;  and  He,  with  out- 
stretched hands,  will  bestow  upon  them  His  divine 
benediction.  Prayer,  fervent  and  continual  prayer, 
is  the  one  efficacious  means  whereby  we  may  change 
our  lives,  and  render  ourselves  conformable  to  His 


EPIPHANY  EVE  191 

likeness.  If  we  do  not  keep  our  good  resolutions,  it  is 
because  we  do  not  pray;  it  is  because  we  mistake  a 
momentary  enthusiasm,  or  fit  of  piety  for  a  thorough 
conversion  of  heart.  There  is  no  thorough  conver- 
sion, and  no  perseverance  hi  such  conversion,  without 
prayer.  Pray,  then,  always,  that  you  may  put  in 
practice  the  good  resolutions  which  I  doubt  not  you 
make  this  day,  of  spending  the  year  which  is  now 
beginning,  more  profitably  to  your  salvation,  than  the 
preceding  years;  that  so  you  may,  with  confidence, 
look  forward  to  the  blessed  hope  and  coming  of  the 
great  God  and  our  Saviour  Jesus  Christ,  to  welcome 
you  to  His  eternal  Kingdom,  when  time  shall  be  no 
more. 


EPIPHANY  EVE. 

(Jan.  5.) 

"Arise,  and  take  the  Child  and  His  Mother,  and  go 
into  the  land  of  Israel;  for  they  are  dead  who  sought  the 
life  of  the  Child.  Who  arose  and  took  the  Child  and 
His  Mother,  and  came  into  the  land  of  Israel."  (Matt. 
II;  20,  21.) 

In  the  several  gospels  of  the  three  Masses  on  Christ- 
mas Day,  there  is  presented  to  us  a  complete  record, 
'  so  far  as  it  has  been  written,  of  the  incidents  of  our 
Lord's  Birth  hi  Bethlehem.  Eight  days  afterwards, 
we  commemorated  the  mystery  of  His  Circumcision, 
which  was  equivalent  in  the  old  law  to  baptism  in  the 
new;  when  our  Lord  received  the  Name  of  Jesus. 
Now,  we  are  about  to  keep  the  Feast  of  Epiphany, 


192  SERMONS  FOR  THE  YEAR 

or  manifestation  to  the  gentiles.  Forty  days  after 
His  Birth  occured  His  Presentation  in  the  Temple, 
and  His  Mother's  purification,  according  to  the  law  of 
Moses.  Beyond  these  facts,  there  is  only  one  other 
incident  recorded  of  our  I^ord's  Infancy,  which  you 
have  just  heard  read  in  the  gospel;  namely,  the 
Flight  of  the  holy  Family  into  Egypt,  their  stay  there 
and  return.  It  is  to  this  short  narrative  that  I  wish 
to  call  your  attention,  and  especially  to  the  conduct 
of  Joseph,  who,  on  this,  as  on  other  occasions,  furn- 
ishes an  excellent  model  for  our  imitation  under 
similar  circumstances. 

No  sooner  was  the  Redeemer  of  the  world  born,  than 
he  began  to  be  persecuted.  The  cruel  tyrant,  Herod, 
hearing  that  a  King  was  born,  Who  was  the  expected 
of  all  nations,  began  to  fear  for  his  crown  and  domin- 
ions, and,  in  his  blind  and  impious  jealousy,  ordered 
the  destruction  of  the  new-born  Saviour.  To  make 
sure  of  compassing  his  object,  he  commanded  the 
indiscriminate  massacre  of  all  the  male  children  of 
that  district  up  to  two  years  of  age.  But  the  Al- 
mighty defeated  his  impious  purpose;  and  whilst  a 
holocaust  of  innocents  fell  victims  to  Herod's  fury, 
and  the  vale  of  Bethlehem  echoed  with  the  wailing  of 
the  disconsolate  mothers,  the  only  One  whose  de- 
struction was  intended,  escaped.  For  Joseph,  being 
warned  by  an  angel,  took  the  Child  and  His  mother 
and  fled  by  night  into  Egypt.  There  they  remained 
tmtil  the  death  of  Herod,  a  period  of  seven  years. 

Hence,  it  was  the  land  of  Egypt  which  was  privil- 
eged to  receive  the  first  foot-prints  of  the  Incarnate 


I 

EPIPHANY  EVE  193 

Word;  for  there  He  first  began  to  walk  upon  the 
earth.  It  was  Egypt  which  first  echoed  to  His  child- 
like accents;  for  there  He  first  began  to  lisp,  and 
afterwards  to  speak.  Moreover,  tradition  affirms 
that  His  divine  presence  was  indicated  by  the  mys- 
terious destruction  of  the  idols,  whithersoever  He 
came;  so  that  in  Egypt.  He  began  to  work  His 
first  miracles,  though  in  a  hidden  manner.  No 
wonder,  then,  that  a  land  which  had  been  thus  con- 
secrated should  afterwards  become  the  home  of  so 
many  thousands  of  holy  anchorites;  that  what  had 
been,  heretofore,  an  idolatrous  waste  became  peo- 
pled with  devout  hermits,  so  that  the  wilderness 
blossomed  as  the  rose  and  the  mighty  pyramids 
threw  their  giant  shadows  over  temples  and  altars 
dedicated  to  the  true  God,  and  over  monasteries  and 
hermitages,  where  thousands  of  holy  souls  were  con- 
secrated to  His  service.  In  this  favoured  land, 
then,  the  holy  Family  waited  patiently  until  God 
should  make  known  to  them  the  time  of  their  return. 
Perhaps,  it  may  occur  to  us  to  wonder  that  our 
Lord  should  have  chosen  to  undergo  this  long  and 
painful  exile,  when  He  could,  in  a  moment,  have  pre- 
vented it,  or  terminated  it  by  smiting  the  cruel 
persecutors  with  death.  I  call  it  a  painful  exile,  as 
it  must  needs  have  been,  when  we  consider  the 
extreme  indigence  of  Joseph  and  Mary,  thus  cast 
without  any  resources  on  a  strange  country.  Per- 
haps, too,  we  wonder  and  do  more  than  wonder;  we 
murmur  and  repine  when  we  find  ourselves  the  object 
of  persecution.  It  is  astonishing  how  difficult  it  is 


194  SERMONS  FOR  THE  YEAR 

to  convince  people  that  the  fact  of  their  being  perse- 
cuted is  a  mark  of  God's  love  for  them :  that  what  our 
blessed  Lord  thought  to  be  good  for  Himself,  must 
necessarily  be  good  for  us.  Hence,  to  repine  and 
murmur  at  these  visitations  of  God's  Providence,  is  a 
sign  that  we  have  not  duly  meditated  on  the  truths 
of  the  gospel — that  we  are  Christians  only  in  name, 
and  not  in  reality.  Moreover,  turning  from  our  own 
sufferings  and  persecutions,  when  we  consider  those 
which  the  Church  at  large  has  to  undergo,  and  espec- 
ially its  Supreme  Head  on  earth;  when  we  consider 
the  persecution  which  is  even  now  raging  all  over  the 
world  against  the  Church  and  the  Vicar  of  Christ,  at 
the  hands  of  the  modern  Herods,  the  Kings  and 
rulers  of  the  world  of  this  darkness,  (Eph.  VI;  12) 
some  Catholics  are  scandalized,  some  are  impatient, 
and  some  wonder  that  a  visible  judgment  does  not 
descend  upon  the  persecutor,  so  little  have  they  pro- 
fited by  the  lesson  which  has  been  taught  them  by 
the  life  and  example  of  our  divine  Lord,  Who  was 
compelled  to  fly  before  His  persecutors,  when  He  was 
yet  an  Infant  in  His  Mother's  arms.  Those  persons 
have  only  to  study  the  gospels,  and  read  the  history 
of  the  Church,  to  learn  that  their  wonder  and  im- 
patience are  wholly  unwarranted — that  the  Church 
of  Christ  cannot  expect  better  treatment  than  her 
divine  Founder  received — that  persecution  ever  has 
been,  and  ever  will  be,  its  portion  unto  the  end —  and 
that  as  He  would  not,  at  the  demand  of  His  disciples, 
call  down  fire  from  heaven  upon  the  heads  of  His 
persecutors,  so  neither  can  we  expect  Him  to  fulfill 


I 

EPIPHANY  EVE  195 

our  vindictive  expectations  under  the  present  cir- 
cumstances. 

The  Christian's  revenge  is  patience.  Not  until  the 
end  of  the  world  will  the  final  triumph  of  justice  over 
injustice  be  achieved,  when  the  Kingdom  of  Christ 
shall  be  established,  and  all  things  shall  be  subjected 
under  His  Feet.  (I  Cor.  XV;  26.)  Thus,  St.  John 
saw  in  his  vision:  "The  souls  of  them  that  were  slain 
for  the  Word  of  God,  and  for  the  testimony  which 
they  held ;  and  they  cried  with  a  loud  voice,  saying : 
'How  long,  O  Ix)rd,  Holy  and  True,  dost  Thou  not 
judge  and  revenge  our  blood  on  them  that  dwell  on 
the  earth  ?'  And  it  was  said  to  them,  that  they  should 
rest  yet  for  a  little  time,  till  their  fellow-servants,  and 
their  brethren,  who  are  to  be  slain  even  as  they, 
should  be  filled  up."  (Apoc.  VI;  9,  11.)  Herod, 
then,  was  allowed  to  run  his  impious  course,  and,  at 
length,  after  years  of  weary  waiting,  St.  Joseph  is 
warned  by  an  angel  that  it  is  now  time  to  return  to 
the  land  of  Israel. 

Here,  again,  we  find  in  St.  Joseph's  conduct  several 
points  worthy  of  our  consideration.  First,  his 
prompt  obedience.  St.  Joseph  is  presented  to  us  as 
a  singular  model  of  that  spirit  of  silence  and  recollec- 
tion which  leaves  the  soul  open  to  communion 
with  God.  No  single  word  of  his  is  recorded  in 
holy  Scripture.  Every  word  that  is  recorded  as 
having  been  addressed  to  him  was  uttered  by  an 
angel;  and  we  find  that  he  obeys  the  divine  admoni- 
tion with  perfect  submission.  He  obeys  without 
question,  murmur  or  hesitation.  He  rises  in  the 


196  SERMONS  FOR  THE  YEAR 

night,  on  the  instant,  and  leaves  the  home  where  he 
had  lived  for  seven  years,  without  knowing  whither 
he  was  to  go,  with  the  precious  charge  committed  to 
his  care.  I^et  us  compare  our  conduct  with  his.  In 
the  first  place,  do  we  observe  that  habitual  silence 
and  recollection  of  spirit  which  will  enable  the  still, 
small  voice  of  God's  inspirations  to  make  itself  heard 
in  the  depths  of  our  heart?  And,  if  we  do  hear,  do 
we  obey  with  promptitude  and  alacrity?  What 
should  we  have  said  or  done  had  we  been  in  Joseph's 
case?  Surely  this:  I  must  take  some  time  to  make 
preparations  for  my  departure.  I  must  dispose  of 
my  house  and  furniture  and  stock-in-trade.  I  must 
send  word  to  some  friends,  to  ascertain  where  I  can 
go  and  find  a  fresh  home.  I  must  let  Mary  and  her 
Child  take  their  night's  rest,  and  explain  the  matter 
to  them  in  the  morning.  This  is,  no  doubt,  the  way 
in  which  we  should  have  reasoned,  under  the  like 
circumstances.  At  all  events,  this  is  the  way  in 
which  we  do  reason,  when  God  calls  us  to  do  anything 
now-a-days.  But  how  does  St.  Joseph  act  ?  He  does 
not  argue  at  all,  or  question,  or  think  about  it.  He 
does  simply  what  he  is  told  to  do.  He  rises  then  and 
there,  in  the  dead  of  night.  He  awakes  Mary  and 
Jesus.  He  leaves  all  else  behind  him,  and  he  starts 
for  the  land  of  Egypt,  trusting  that  God  will  further 
enlighten  him  (  and  his  trust  was  not  disappointed), 
as  to  the  destination  of  his  journey. 

But  you  may  say,  that  if  God  sent  an  angel  to  tell 
you  what  to  do,  you  would  do  it.  Would  you?  So 
Dives  argued  when  he  was  in  hell.  He  thought  that 


EPIPHANY  EVE  197 

if  Abraham  would  send  Lazarus  to  his  brethren  on 
earth,  they  would  be  converted.  But  Abraham 
said:  "they  have  Moses  and  the  prophets;  let  them 
hear  them.'  'Nay',  said  Dives,  'but  if  one  went  to 
them  from  the  dead,  they  will  do  penance. '  Abraham 
replied:  'if  they  hear  not  Moses  and  the  prophets, 
neither  will  they  believe  if  one  rise  again  from  the 
dead."  (Luke  XVI;  19-31.)  Let  us  apply  this  to 
ourselves.  God  does  speak  to  us,  with  the  same 
authority,  and  with  the  same  clearness  as  if  He  sent 
an  angel  to  us,  when  He  speaks  to  us  by  the  voice  of 
the  Church  and  her  pastors;  and  if  we  will  not  hear 
and  obey  them,  we  refuse  to  hear,  and  we  disobey, 
not  an  angel,  but  God  Himself.  "He  that  heareth 
you,  heareth  Me:  and  he  that  despiseth  you,  des- 
piseth  Me."  (Luke  X;  16.)  May  we,  then,  learn 
from  this  example  of  St.  Joseph  the  two-fold  lesson 
of  patience  and  resignation  under  suffering  and  per- 
secution, and  of  perfect  submission  and  conformity 
to  the  divine  Will.  For  this  is  the  only  way  to  enjoy 
true  peace  of  mind.  There  can  be  no  true  happiness 
except  in  fulfilling  God's  Will,  whatever  it  may  or- 
dain ;  for  we  know  that  that  Will  overrules  all  things 
for  our  sanctification  and  salvation.  Hence,  whilst 
to  run  counter  to  that  Will,  is  to  endanger  our  salva- 
tion ;  to  be  conformed  to  it  is  to  secure  our  salvation. 
"To  them  that  love  God,  all  things  work  together 
unto  good :  to  such  as,  according  to  His  purpose,  are 
called  to  be  saints."  (Rom.  VIII;  28.) 


198  SERMONS  FOR  THE  YEAR 

EPIPHANY. 

(Jan.  6.     From  the  Gospel.) 

"And  entering  into  the  house,  they  found  the  Child 
with  Mary  His  Mother,  and  falling  down,  they  adored 
Him;  and  opening  their  treasures,  they  offered  Him 
gifts;  gold,  frankincense,  and  myrrh.''  (Matth.  II; 
11.) 

During  this  octave,  my  dear  brethren,  we  keep  one 
of  the  greatest  Feasts  of  the  Church — the  Epiphany, 
or  manifestation  of  our  I/ord  to  the  three  Kings  of  the 
East,  who  represent  all  the  nations  of  the  earth. 
Hence,  it  is  called  the  Christmas  Day  of  the  Gentiles. 
"He  came  unto  His  Own,  and  His  Own  received  Him 
not."  (Joh.  I;  11.)  Therefore,  He  turned  to  the 
Gentiles,  and  attracted  them  by  the  light  of  His 
grace,  signified  by  the  star;  and  they  came  from  the 
uttermost  parts  of  the  earth  to  adore  Him.  In  their 
vocation,  ours  is  included;  and  while  we  humbly 
adore  our  Infant  Saviour,  along  with  the  Magi,  let 
us,  at  the  same  time,  consider  the  manner  of  their 
adoration,  that  it  may  be  a  lesson  to  us. 

First,  let  us  consider  what  a  sacrifice  they  made  in 
coming  to  visit  their  Saviour.  Out  of  the  myriads 
of  those  who  must  have  seen  that  star,  the  celestial 
herald  of  the  Sun  of  Justice,  three  alone  were  found 
to  follow  the  inspiration  thus  vouchsafed  to  them; 
and  by  following  it,  they  were  brought  to  the  knowl- 
edge of  the  truth,  and  the  grace  of  salvation.  It  is 
just  so  now-a-days ;  the  Word  made  Flesh  is  the  true 
Light  that  enlighteneth  every  man  that  cometh  into 
this  world ;  but  the  world  is  all  darkness,  and  does  not 


EPIPHANY  199 

comprehend  the  Light.  (John  I;  5.)  To  which 
class  do  we  belong?  To  the  world  of  this  darkness 
which  envelops  us  in  the  midst  of  pride,  of  vanity 
and  of  sin,  or  to  the  Kingdom  of  light  which  shines 
from  the  humility  and  poverty  of  the  crib  of  Bethle- 
hem? (Eph.  VI;  12.)  Better  for  us,  my  brethren, 
never  to  have  seen  the  light,  than  to  shut  our  eyes 
wilfully  to  its  beams,  and  refuse  to  go  whither  it 
beckons  us.  It  will  only  add  to  our  condemnation, 
according  to  that  word  of  the  Apostle : "  It  is  impossible 
for  those  who  were  once  illuminated,  and  are  fallen 
away,  to  be  renewed  again  to  penance."  (Heb.  VI; 
4,  6.)  But,  my  brethren,  I  hope  I  may  add  with  the 
apostle  (9):  "We  trust  better  things  of  you,"  that 
you  will,  like  these  holy  Kings,  despise  the  ridicule 
and  opposition  of  the  World,  and  seek  your  Lord 
where  He  is  to  be  found,  in  the  stable  of  Bethlehem. 
In  the  next  place,  let  us  consider  the  conduct  of 
the  people  of  Jerusalem,  who,  though  so  near  their 
new-born  Saviour,  neglected  to  go  and  adore  Him. 
The  arrival  of  the  Magi,  and  the  object  of  their  visit, 
soon  became  known  to  Herod.  For  they  made  no 
secret  of  it,  saying:  "Where  is  He  that  is  born  King 
of  the  Jews?"  They  feared  not  to  enquire  where  He 
was  that  was  born  King  of  the  Jews,  in  the  very  court 
of  Him  who  claimed  to  be  King  of  the  Jews.  What, 
then,  was  Herod's  conduct?  Instead  of  joining  the 
Eastern  Kings  and,  with  them,  laying  his  crown  at 
our  Lord's  Feet,  "he  was  troubled."  Yes,  the  im- 
pious monarch  thought  of  nothing  but  of  earthly 
<arowns,  and  knew  not  the  Spiritual  Kingdom  of 


200  SERMONS  FOR  THE  YEAR 

Christ.  Unlike  the  Magi,  he  had  never  set  himself 
to  study  the  prophecies  which  foretold  the  advent  of 
the  Redeemer.  Therefore,  he  was  troubled.  And 
so  is  the  world  troubled  now-a-days,  my  dear  brethren. 
To  those  who  love  the  world,  and  the  things  that  are 
in  the  world,  the  coming  of  our  Saviour  is  an  awkward 
fact ;  it  is  a  standing  reproach  to  their  lives  and  prin- 
ciples. They  are  scandalized  at  the  poverty  and 
humility  of  the  crib  of  Bethlehem;  and  though  they 
dare  not  express  it  in  words,  yet  in  their  heart  they 
wish  that  our  Lord  had  never  come,  to  teach  them 
such  a  lesson,  so  opposed  to  the  sentiments  of  our 
corrupt  nature.  They  say  to  themselves:  "Let  us 
lie  in  wait  for  the  Just,  because  He  is  not  for  our  turn, 
and  He  is  contrary  to  our  doings,  and  upbraideth  us 
with  transgressions  of  the  law,  and  divulgeth  against 
us  the  sins  of  our  way  of  life.  He  boasteth  that  He 
hath  the  knowledge  of  God,  and  calleth  Himself  the 
Son  of  God.  He  is  become  a  censurer  of  our  thoughts. 
He  is  grievous  unto  us,  even  to  behold;  for  His  life 
is  not  like  other  men's,  and  His  ways  are  very  differ- 
ent." (Wisd.  II;  12, 15.)  But,  my  brethren,  the 
perfidy  of  Herod  is  more  than  matched  by  the  infi- 
delity of  the  Jewish  priests  and  scribes.  They 
searched  the  Scriptures,  and  discovered  where  the 
Messias  should  be  born.  They  clearly  pointed  out 
to  the  Magi  the  spot  where  their  devotion  was  leading 
them.  But,  like  sign-posts,  they  pointed  out  the 
way  which  they  never  went  themselves.  What 
blindness  can  equal  theirs?  And  yet,  is  it  not  paral- 
leled by  the  conduct  of  such  Christians  as  boast 


EPIPHANY  201 

indeed  of  their  faith  as  Catholics;  and  are  ready 
enough  to  point  out  the  way  of  truth  to  those  who 
converse  in  error;  but,  at  the  same  time,  disgrace 
their  faith  by  their  evil  lives;  or,  at  least,  by  their 
indifference  and  neglect  of  the  sacraments,  show  that 
their  faith  is  not  fruitful  in  good  works?  Of  these 
the  apostle  says:  There  shall  arise  men,  "having  an 
appearance,  indeed,  of  godliness  but  denying  the 
power  thereof."  (II  Tim.  Ill;  5.)  Outwardly, 
they  go  through  the  routine  of  spiritual  duties,  but 
deny  the  power  thereof  by  neglecting  the  means  of 
grace  offered  to  them  in  the  holy  Sacraments. 

Next,  let  us  consider  the  conduct  of  the  Magi  on 
their  arrival  at  Bethlehem.  "And  entering  in,  they 
found  the  Child  with  Mary  His  mother."  What  a 
spectacle  to  meet  their  eyes,  after  so  long  and  labor- 
ious a  journey !  These  great  and  powerful  monarchs, 
learned  in  all  the  wisdom  of  the  East,  have  traversed 
thousands  of  miles,  attended  by  the  greatest  hard- 
ships and  difficulties,  to  find  what?  A  miserable 
hovel,  used  as  a  stable  for  beasts — a  poor  shivering 
Infant — a  lowly  maiden,  His  mother,  bending  over 
Him.  Can  this  be  the  new-born  King  of  Kings,  and 
Saviour  of  the  world?  Are  they  not  scandalized; 
and  will  they  not  depart  in  disgust  at  the  deception 
that  has  been  practiced  upon  them?  No,  my  dear 
brethren,  theirs  was  not  a  superficial  piety;  they 
knew  well  the  power  thereof.  Their  faith  wavered 
not  for  an  instant.  Without  doubt  or  hesitation, 
falling  down  they  adored  Him.  What  an  example 
for  our  faith !  Are  we  not  scandalized  at  the  poverty 


202  SERMONS  FOR  THE  YEAR 

and  wretchedness  of  the  stable  of  Bethlehem,  at  the 
weakness  and  suffering  of  the  divine  Infant?  If  you 
had  faith,  like  the  Magi,  you  would  come  to  the  Crib, 
and  bathe  the  little  Limbs  of  your  Saviour  with 
tears  of  joy  and  of  contrition ;  you  would  light  up  the 
gloom  of  that  stable  with  a  smile  of  hope,  and  you 
would  join  the  troops  of  angels,  who  there  adore  their 
God;  you  would  hardly  be  torn  away  from  that 
blessed  spot.  And  yet,  where  are  your  visits  to  the 
Crib,  your  sighs,  your  vows,  your  prayers,  your  pro- 
testations, your  resolutions,  your  gifts? 

But  you  will  say,  perhaps,  if  our  Lord  were  really 
present  in  the  Crib,  as  He  was  to  the  Magi,  we  should 
be  as  devout  as  they  were.  Say  you  so ?  "Out  of  thy 
own  mouth  I  judge  thee."  (Luke  XIX;  22.)  Is  not 
our  Lord  really  present  in  this  Tabernacle;  as  really 
present  as  He  was  in  the  stable  of  Bethlehem  ?  Again 
I  ask,  where  are  your  visits,  your  prayers,  your  acts 
of  devotion?  But  sloth  and  tepidity  never  want  for 
excuses.  If,  you  say,  our  Lord  were  as  visible  to 
our  outward  senses  as  He  was  to  the  Magi,  then  we 
should  be  as  devout  as  they.  Indeed!  Whom,  I 
ask  you,  did  the  Magi  adore?  It  was  God.  Now,  I 
ask,  is  the  Godhead  more  hidden  under  the  sacra- 
mental veils  than  it  was  under  the  form  of  an  Infant  ? 
It  is  not,  nor  can  it  be.  For,  where  there  is  infini- 
tude, there  is  no  such  thing  as  more  or  less;  and  as 
there  is  an  infinite  distance  between  the  divine  and 
human  nature,  to  the  eye  of  faith  the  Godhead  is 
equally  hidden,  equally  manifest,  in  the  Crib  of  Beth- 
lehem, and  in  the  tabernacle  of  the  altar. 


EPIPHANY  203 

Let  us  now  in  conclusion,  consider  the  conduct 
of  the  Wise  Men  on  their  return  from  Bethlehem. 
Having  once  been  illumined  by  the  Star  and  by  Him 
Who  is  the  true  Light,  they  never  relapsed  into  dark- 
ness ;  but  went  on  their  way  rejoicing,  making  ascen- 
sions in  their  hearts,  and  going  from  virtue  to  virtue, 
until  they  should  see  the  God  of  gods  in  Sion.  (Ps. 
LXXXIII;  6,  8.)  The  charity  of  God  which  was 
diffused  in  their  hearts  by  the  Holy  Ghost,  prompted 
them  to  communicate  to  all  they  met  a  share  of  that 
light  which  had  illumined  them;  and  by  word  and 
by  example,  they  sought  to  bring  all  they  could  to 
the  faith  of  Christ.  (Rom.  V.  5.)  Tradition,  more- 
over, asserts  that,  for  that  faith,  they  merited  to  lay 
down  their  lives.  Let  us  also  strive  to  bring  others 
to  the  knowledge  of  the  truth.  If  we  cannot  all  do 
this  by  exhortation  and  instruction,  we  can,  at  least, 
all  do  it  by  our  good  example  and  by  our  prayers; 
that  the  grace  of  God  may  visit  them  that  sit  in 
darkness,  and  in  the  shadow  of  death;  without  which 
grace,  indeed,  all  preaching  is  in  vain,  and  which 
grace  is  of  itself  all-sufficient.  Let  each  one,  then, 
make  a  resolution  before  our  Infant  Saviour,  on  this 
Feast  of  the  Calling  of  the  nations  to  the  faith,  that 
he  will  do  something  towards  the  edifying  of  the 
Body  of  Christ,  which  is  the  Church;  until  we  all 
meet  into  the  unity  of  faith,  and  of  the  knowledge  of 
the  Son  of  God;  unto  a  perfect  man,  unto  the  meas- 
ure of  the  age  of  the  fullness  of  Christ.  (Eph.  IV; 
13.) 


204  SERMONS  FOR  THE  YEAR 

EPIPHANY. 

(From  the  Lesson.) 

"Arise,  be  enlightened,  0  Jerusalem,  for  thy  Light 
is  come."  (Is.  LX;  1.) 

Never  before,  perhaps,  was  the  world  so  overspread 
with  darkness  as  it  is  now,  in  this  century  of  boasted 
enlightenment  and  civilization.  Never  before,  per- 
haps, have  the  nations  been  so  thickly  enveloped  in 
the  mists  of  infidelity  as  now.  And  this,  notwith- 
standing that  nearly  nineteen  centuries  have  elapsed 
since  the  light  of  Bethlehem  first  dawned;  since  the 
glory  of  the  Lord  appeared  to  the  gentiles.  Why  is 
this,  my  dear  brethren?  The  reason  was  uttered 
long  ago,  even  at  the  very  time  when  this  supernat- 
ural Light  first  shone.  "The  Light  shined  in  the 
darkness,  and  the  darkness  did  not  comprehend  it: 
(John  I;  5)  for  men  loved  darkness  rather  than  the 
light."  (John  III;  19.)  Yes,  my  brethren;  men 
have  always  loved,  and  still  love  rather  to  walk  in 
the  darkness  of  their  own  conceits,  of  their  errors 
and  their  vices,  than  to  walk  in  the  light  of  Bethle- 
hem. What  is  that  Light?  It  is  a  heavenly  Gift, 
descending  from  above,  from  the  Father  of  Lights. 
(James  I;  17.)  It  is  the  eternal  Truth,  in  the  Person 
of  the  Word  Incarnate,  Who  dwells  in  the  Bosom  of 
the  Father.  (John  I;  18.)  Who  descended  into 
the  world  of  this  darkness,  (Eph.  VI;  12)  in  order  to 
lead  back  the  world  to  the  inaccessible  light  in  which 
the  Godhead  dwells;  in  order  to  dispel  the  darkness 
of  sin,  of  ignorance  and  of  error;  to  illuminate  the 
world;  to  make  known  in  the  clear  light  of  His  reve- 


EPIPHANY  205 

lation  the  hidden  mysteries  of  the  Godhead;  to  light 
up  the  secret  recesses  of  our  own  hearts  and  con- 
sciences, which  otherwise  would  remain  a  sealed 
book  to  ourselves,  so  blinded  and  infatuated  are  we 
by  our  passions;  to  bring  to  light  the  hidden  things 
of  darkness;  (I  Cor.  IV;  5)  to  enlighten  every  man 
that  cometh  into  this  world.  (John  I;  9.)  Such  is 
the  Light  which  was  revealed  to  us  at  Bethlehem; 
which  was  betokened  by  that  mysterious  star  whose 
brilliant  rays  led  the  Magi  to  the  cradle  of  our  Re- 
deemer. 

Who  would  not  have  thought  that  the  world,  all 
enveloped  as  it  was  in  worse  than  Egyptian  dark- 
ness, groping  its  way  in  the  vain  pursuit  of  knowl- 
edge and  happiness,  which  it  could  never  attain  by 
reason  of  the  darkness,  would  have  hailed  with  univer- 
sal acclamations  of  joy  the  advent  of  the  celestial 
Light;  would  have  rejoiced  to  walk  in  that  Light,  and 
in  the  brightness  of  that  rising?  Were  it  not  for  the 
testimony  of  the  inspired  Evangelist,  and  the  evidence 
of  our  own  experience,  would  it  not  seem  incredible 
that  men  could  prefer  the  darkness  to  the  Light,  should 
wilfully  shut  their  eyes  to  the  Light,  and  go  on  group- 
ing in  darkness, as  heretofore?  And  yet,  what  is  the 
fact?  Of  all  the  multitudes  who  were  witnesses  of 
that  miraculous  star;  nay,  even  of  those  who  were 
well  aware  of  its  portentous  signification,  only  three 
were  found  to  follow  its  guidance,  and  were  brought 
by  it  to  the  cradle  of  Him  Who  is  the  Light  that 
enlighteneth  every  man  that  cometh  into  this  world. 
(John  I;  9.) 


206  SERMONS  FOR  THE  YEAR 

Let  us  now  turn  to  ourselves.  For  that  Light  is 
not  dimmed;  it  burns  still,  and  as  brightly  as  of  yore; 
the  heavenly  meteor  still  points  to  the  Crib  of  Bethle- 
hem. Let  us  not  say  to  ourselves  that  if  we  had  been 
privileged  to  see  that  star,  we  too  would  have  fol- 
lowed its  guidance,  and  have  joined  with  the  holy 
Kings,  in  offering  our  homage  to  the  King  of  Kings 
as  He  lay  in  the  manger.  Oh!  my  brethren,  this 
is  a  great  delusion.  Let  us  not  be  too  sure  that  we 
should  have  done  so.  Whether  any  of  you  would 
have  done  so  had  you  received  that  grace,  I  know 
not.  But  this  I  do  know,  that  you  would  have  done 
then  what  you  are  doing  now;  precisely  that  and  no 
other.  For,  my  brethren,  the  same  mystery  is 
accomplished  in  our  midst  as  was  accomplished 
then;  the  same  grace  is  given  to  us  as  was  given  to 
them.  We  are  not  merely  commemorating  a  past 
fact  which  occurred  many  centuries  ago;  we  are 
witnessing  the  accomplishment  of  a  living,  present 
fact;  the  revelation  of  the  divine  Light  to  the  na- 
tions that  sit  in  darkness.  I  say,  then,  that  God 
Incarnate  is  as  really  and  truly  present  amongst 
us  now  as  He  was  to  the  Kings  of  the  East  at  Bethle- 
hem; that  His  star  is  as  visible  to  all  now  as  it  was  to 
them.  For,  this  star,  is  it  not  the  lamp  of  the  sanc- 
tuary? Wheresoever  that  lamp  burns,  it  betokens 
the  real,  corporal  presence  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ, 
the  Saviour  of  the  world.  Now,  I  ask,  do  you  walk 
in  the  light  of  the  sanctuary?  Is  it  a  beacon  which 
you  follow  with  faithful  footsteps?  Does  it  summon 
you  to  the  presence  of  Him  who  is  enthroned  upon 


EPIPHANY  207 

our  altars,  there  to  offer  Him  your  adoration,  your 
prayers,  your  acts  of  praise,  love  and  thanksgiv- 
ing? Does  its  gentle  light  beam  down  upon  you,  as 
you  kneel  at  the  Eucharistic  table,  there  to  feast 
upon  the  Bread  of  Angels?  Is  it  a  lamp  to 
your  feet,  and  a  light  to  your  path  (Ps.  CXVIII; 
105),  to  keep  you  from  straying  into  the  by-ways 
and  pitfalls  and  morasses  of  sinful  habits  and 
worldly  conversation?  These  are  the  questions, 
my  dear  brethren,  which  you  should  put  to  your- 
selves; on  the  resolution  of  which  you  may  form  an 
idea  what  your  conduct  would  have  been  had  you 
been  summoned  with  the  Magi  to  adore  the  Babe  of 
Bethlehem.  Ask  yourselves  these  questions  now, 
when  you  have  come  to  the  celebration  of  this  holy 
festival,  in  which  we  commemorate  the  manifesta- 
tion of  our  Lord  to  the  gentiles.  Ask  yourselves 
these  questions,  and  listen  to  what  your  conscience 
will  say  in  reply;  and,  according  to  that  answer, 
frame  your  resolutions. 

This  festival  is  not  a  mere  idle  ceremony.  It  is 
a  real  manifestation  of  the  divine  Light  to  enlighten 
our  darkness.  Not  the  darkness  of  nineteen  cen- 
turies ago,  but  the  darkness  of  the  present 
day,  my  darkness,  your  darkness.  Our  divine  Lord 
is  yearning  to  shed  upon  us  that  divine  Light,  to 
reveal  to  us  our  imperfections  and  shortcomings, 
and  to  give  us  grace  and  strength  to  enable  us  to 
walk  worthily,  as  becomes  children  of  the  light. 
(Eph.  V;  8.)  What  resolution,  then,  does  our  Lord 
expect  us  to  make  on  this  solemnity?  Surely,  it  is 


208  SERMONS  FOR  THE  YEAR 

that  we  should  shun  all  the  works  of  darkness,  and 
walk  worthy  of  the  light. 

Again,  we  learn  from  the  example  of  the  Magi, 
that  we  may  not  come  into  His  presence  empty- 
handed.  The  three  Kings  brought  their  presents, 
their  gold,  their  frankincense,  their  myrrh;  and 
offered  them  to  their  infant  Saviour.  And  if  we 
wish  to  join  their  company,  we  must  also  be  pre- 
pared to  offer  our  gifts;  gifts  which  are  symbolized 
by  their  mystic  offerings.  The  gold  of  our  adora- 
tion, by  which  we  worship  Him  as  God;  the  incense 
of  our  prayers,  by  which  we  unite  ourselves  to  Him 
as  our  great  High  Priest;  the  myrrh  of  our  sacrifice 
and  self-denial,  by  which  we  commemorate  His 
Passion  and  Death  for  our  salvation.  One  of  the 
most  acceptable  offerings  we  can  make  to  Him,  is 
that  of  our  good  will  to  follow  the  I/ight  which 
shines  from  Bethlehem.  This  was  the  message 
brought  by  angels  from  heaven,  a  few  days  ago,  when 
they  announced  His  birth:  "Peace  on  earth  to 
men  of  good  will."  (Luke  II;  14.)  There  is  no 
peace  to  the  wicked.  (Is.  XLVIII;  22.)  How  can 
there  be  peace  to  those  who  grope  in  the  darkness 
and  mists  of  their  own  passions,  of  their  worldly 
conversation?  If  there  is  any  truth  which,  more 
than  another,  our  own  experience  must  have  con- 
firmed, it  is  surely  this,  that  as  long  as  we  went 
astray  from  God,  and  followed  the  bent  of  our  own 
inclinations,  there  was  no  peace  for  us.  Ask  the 
drunkard  if  he  ever  found  peace  in  his  intemper- 
ance; ask  the  sensual  and  impure,  the  proud  and  the 


EPIPHANY  209 

vindictive,  the  worldly-minded,  the  frequenter  of 
this  world's  amusements,  the  reader  of  its  litera- 
ture; ask  all  these  if  they  ever  found  peace  in  these 
several  pursuits;  and  they  will  one  and  all  confess, 
if  they  tell  the  truth,  that  they  never  found  peace 
in  any  of  these  things.  On  the  other  hand,  those 
who  have,  by  God's  grace,  overcome  their  evil  in- 
clinations, who  have  trampled  the  world  under  their 
feet,  with  all  its  seductive  allurements,  they,  and 
they  alone,  know  what  true  peace  is ;  the  peace  which 
surpasses  all  understanding.  (Phil.  IV;  7.)  And 
is  not  this  peace  worth  having;  is  it  not  worth  striv- 
ing for;  worth  any  sacrifice  that  we  can  make  to 
obtain  it  ?  Surely,  we  must  all  yearn  for  that  peace, 
which  is  the  forerunner  of  that  eternal  rest  to  which 
God  calls  us. 

Then  why  not  come  to  Bethlehem  and  enter  into 
that  peace?  This  new-born  Babe  has  come  to  im- 
part that  peace  to  you.  The  only  condition  He  re- 
quires of  you  is  that  you  be  of  good  will.  It  matters 
not  what  sort  of  life  you  may  have  been  leading  in 
the  past;  what  sins  you  may  have  committed;  all 
will  be  forgiven  and  forgotten,  so  long  as  you  have 
a  good  will — a  good  will  to  seek  pardon  and  grace 
where  it  is  to  be  found — a  good  will  to  learn  and 
to  practice  the  lesson  of  humility,  of  self-denial,  of 
obedience,  which  is  set  by  the  Babe  of  Bethlehem 
— a  good  will  to  renounce  all  the  works  of  darkness 
for  the  future,  and  to  walk  in  the  Light  of  God's 
grace.  Who  is  there  who  cannot  do  this?  His 
grace  is  ever  at  hand,  to  enable  us  to  overcome  every 


210  SERMONS  FOR  THE  YEAR 

difficulty  that  may  stand  in  the  way,  and  with  His 
grace,  He  will  impart  His  consolations,  which  will 
sweeten  the  very  trials  we  may  have  to  encounter. 

Do  not  depart,  then,  without  throwing  yourselves 
at  our  Lord's  feet,  and  making  Him  the  offering  of 
yourselves,  of  your  hearts,  of  your  good  will.  And 
He  in  return,  will  not  fail  to  bestow  on  you  His 
heavenly  benediction,  in  the  light  and  grace  of 
which  you  will  walk  steadfastly  through  the  world 
of  this  darkness  (Eph.  VI;  12),  until  you  reach  the 
realms  of  Light,  where  God  reigns  in  the  splendour 
of  His  unutterable  Glory. 


FIRST  SUNDAY  AFTER  EPIPHANY. 

(From  the  Gospel.) 

"And  He  said  to  them:  'How  is  it  that  you  sought 
Me?  Did  you  not  know  that  I  must  be  about  My 
Father's  business?  "  (Luke  II;  49.) 

Such,  my  brethren,  are  the  first  recorded  words 
which  the  Incarnate  Wisdom  of  God  uttered  upon 
earth.  How  precious  ought  they  not  be  to  us! 
Many  and  beautiful,  no  doubt,  must  have  been  the 
words  of  Jesus,  from  the  time  when  He  first  began 
to  lisp;  words  which  His  blessed  Mother  pondered 
oyer  and  treasured  up;  for  we  know  that  she  kept  all 
these  words  in  her  heart.  (Luke  II;  19.)  But  we 
have  not  been  privileged  to  take  part  in  these  divine 
conversations,  and  their  sweetness  will  not  be  re- 
vealed to  us  until  the  day  when  the  Sacred  Human- 


I  SUNDAY  AFTER  EPIPHANY        211 

ity  of  our  Lord  shall  be  revealed  to  us  in  the  Light 
of  Glory.  But  it  has  pleased  the  Holy  Ghost,  Who 
is  the  Author  of  the  holy  gospel,  to  reveal  to  us  one 
saying  of  our  divine  Redeemer — the  first  and  only 
one  which  is  recorded  of  Him  for  the  space  of  thirty 
years — that  is,  until  the  time  of  His  public  manifes- 
tation and  ministry.  I  know  not,  my  brethren, 
which  is  more  eloquent,  this  silence,  or  this  saying 
which  alone  breaks  that  mysterious  silence  of  thirty 
years.  Surely,  there  must  be  something  mysterious 
in  that  saying:  and  so  it  is;  for  we  read  that  Mary 
and  Joseph  understood  not  the  word  that  He  spoke 
to  them.  For  those  words  express  the  mystery  first 
manifested  in  Bethlehem,  unfolded  in  the  holy  house 
of  Nazareth,  consummated  on  calvary.  But,  since 
we  have  witnessed  and  been  made  partakers  of  this 
consummation,  we  may  humbly  hope  to  enter  into 
the  meaning  of  these  mysterious  words:  "Did  you 
not  know  that  I  must  be  about  My  Father's  busi- 
ness?" 

Here  is  the  beginning  and  end  of  the  Incarnation. 
When  the  Eternal  Son  offered  to  make  that  atone- 
ment for  sin,  which  could  never  be  made  by  burnt 
offerings  and  sin-offerings,  He  said:  "Behold,  I 
come.  In  the  head  of  the  book  it  is  written  of  Me, 
that  I  should  do  Thy  Will.  O  my  God,  I  have 
desired  it ;  and  Thy  law  in  the  midst  of  my  Heart. 
(Ps.  XXXIX;  8,  9.)  'In  the  head  of  the  book.' 
This,  then,  is  the  very  title  of  His  mission,  the  very 
scope  and  meaning  of  the  Incarnation.  'That  I 
should  do  Thy  Will.'  And  what  is  that  Will? 


212  SERMONS  FOR  THE  YEAR 

Again,  the  holy  scripture  tells  us:  'This  is  the  Will 
of  God — your  sanctification.'  "  (I  Thess.  IV;  3.) 

No  wonder,  therefore,  that  the  first  voluntary  act 
of  our  Lord,  recorded  in  the  gospel,  should  be  this 
of  illuminating  the  doctors  in  the  Temple  by  the 
wisdom  of  His  answers.  No  wonder  that  His  first 
recorded  utterance  should  be  words  expressive  of 
the  very  object  of  His  mission:  "I  must  be  about 
My  Father's  business."  And  so  we  find,  from  the 
beginning  to  the  end,  that  this  was  His  sole  object 
— to  labour  for  our  sanctification  and  salvation. 
For  this  He  sacrificed  all  things:  riches,  ease,  com- 
fort, honour,  food,  sleep,  repose,  life  itself.  When 
Jesus,  aweary  with  His  journey,  sat  thus  on  the  well 
in  the  noontide  heat,  He  said  to  the  Samaritan 
woman:  "Give  Me  to  drink.  "  What  He  thirsted 
for  was  her  conversion  and  salvation.  And  when 
His  disciples  came  and  prayed  Him, saying :"Rabbi, 
eat/'  He  said  to  them:  "My  meat  is  to  do  the  Will 
of  Him  that  sent  Me,  that  I  may  perfect  His  work." 
(John  IV;  6-34.)  Again,  He  said:  "I  came  down 
from  heaven,  not  to  do  My  Own  Will,  but  the  Will 
of  Him  that  sent  Me."  (John  VI;  38.)  Yet  again, 
when  His  last  hour  was  come,  and  a  mortal  agony 
came  upon  Him,  and  His  human  Will  seemed  over- 
borne by  the  multitude  of  the  anguish  which  He  felt 
at  having  to  bear  upon  His  shoulders  the  iniquities 
of  the  world,  even  then  His  prayer  was  still:  "Not 
My  Will,  but  Thine  be  done."  (Luke  XXII ;  42.) 

But,  my  brethren,  if  it  was  necessary  that  our 
divine  Redeemer  should  thus  devote  Himself,  singly 


I  SUNDAY  AFTER  EPIPHANY         213 

and  solely,  to  the  work  which  He  came  to  do,  to 
seek  and  to  save  that  which  was  lost,  you  must  not, 
therefore,  suppose  that  all  is  done.  Far  from  it. 
He  came  to  offer  us  the  means  of  salvation,  not  to 
save  us  in  spite  of  ourselves.  Without  His  grace, 
all  our  efforts  would  be  vain;  but  without  our  co- 
operation, His  grace  will  profit  us  nothing.  Hence, 
if  we  have  any  regard  for  our  salvation,  we  too 
"must  be  about  our  Father's  business."  "Christ 
suffered  for  us,  leaving  you  an  example  that  you 
should  follow  His  steps."  (I  Pet.  II;  21.)  This  is 
the  meaning  of  that  great  mystery  of  the  Incarnation, 
which  we  are  now  keeping.  Jesus  Christ  is  our 
Mediator  and  our  Model.  It  is  vain  for  those  to 
expect  the  fruits  of  His  redemption,  who  will  not 
follow  His  example.  Let  us  then  put  this  question 
seriously  to  ourselves:  Are  we  really  occupied  in 
that  business  which  is  the  one  thing  necessary? 
Are  the  interests  of  our  immortal  souls  ever  upper- 
most in  our  thoughts;  and  are  we  prepared  for  them 
to  sacrifice  everything  else?  It  would  seem  strange, 
indeed,  that  there  should  be  any  necessity  for  such 
an  enquiry.  One  would  suppose  that  any  one  who 
knows  that  he  has  an  immortal  soul;  and  that  the 
world, and  all  that  is  in  the  world,  is  full  of  peril  for 
that  soul,  could  not  possibly  hesitate  as  to  the  course 
he  ought  to  pursue.  The  whole  of  Christianity  is 
summed  up  in  that  one  phrase:  "What  doth  it 
profit  a  man,  if  he  gain  the  whole  world,  and  suffer 
the  loss  of  his  own  soul;  or  what  exchange  shall  a 
man  give  for  his  soul?"  (Matth.  XVI;  26.)  We 


214  SERMONS  FOR  THE  YEAR 

were  taught  this  truth  in  our  earliest  years,  but 
what  impression  has  it  made  on  us?  How  far  has  it 
affected  our  life  and  conduct?  Must  we  not,  many 
of  us,  acknowledge  with  shame  and  confusion,  that 
though  we  profess  to  believe  this  truth,  yet  we  live 
as  if  we  did  not  believe  it,  that  our  acts  belie  our 
professions?  But  "not  every  one  that  saith  to  Me, 
Lord,  Lord,  shall  enter  into  the  Kingdom  of  heaven; 
but  he  that  doth  the  will  of  My  Father  Who  is  in 
heaven,  he  shall  enter  into  the  Kingdom  of  Heaven." 
(Matth.  VII;  21.) 

What  is  it,  then,  to  have  a  practical  belief  in  this 
truth;  or  rather,  first,  what  is  it  not  to  have  it?  I 
speak  not  now  of  those  who  live  in  the  state  of  habit- 
ual sin,  and  in  the  neglect  of  the  essential  duties 
of  a  Christian.  These  have  set  God  openly  at  de- 
fiance, and  are,  by  their  own  judgment  condemned. 
But  I  speak  of  those  half-hearted  Christians  who 
have  the  appearance  indeed,  of  piety,  but  deny  the 
power  thereof.  (II  Tim.  Ill;  5.)  Who  try  to  serve 
two  Masters,  both  God  and  the  world.  Who  would 
like  to  make  the  best  bargain  they  can  for  this  world 
and  the  next.  Deluded  beings !  Know  you  not  that 
you  were  sent  into  this  world,  not  to  serve  the  world, 
but  to  overcome  the  world;  and  by  overcoming  the 
world,  so  to  win  the  prize  of  victory?  Know  you 
not  that  the  life  of  man  upon  earth  is  a  continual 
warfare?  You  are  free  to  take  your  choice,  whether 
of  God  or  the  world — whether  of  the  interests  of 
your  immortal  souls,  or  of  this  miserable  perishable 
body;  but  do  not  deceive  yourselves,  and  imagine 


I  SUNDAY  AFTER  EPIPHANY         215 

that  you  can  secure  both      Our  Lord  has  told  us 
that  it  is  impossible;  and  there  is  an  end  of  it. 

And  yet,  if  we  believe  this,  are  not  our  lives  one 
tissue  of  strange  contradictions?  Let  us  take  for 
an  example  any  ordinary  Christian,  and  interrogate 
his  thoughts  at  any  given  time.  What  shall  we  find  ? 
He  is  thinking,  perhaps,  how  he  may  better  his  con- 
dition in  the  world;  how  he  may  advance  his  pros- 
pects; gain  those  friends,  or  conciliate  those  oppo- 
nents; how  he  may  push  his  children  on  in  the  world; 
obtain  this  or  that  distinction;  make  himself  a  repu- 
tation. He  is  devising  some  scheme  or  other,  by 
which  he  may  consult  for  the  health  or  prosperity  or 
comfort  of  himself  or  his  family.  But  if  you  again 
interrogate  him  whether,  in  all  these  schemes,  he  is 
prompted  or  even  influenced  by  the  intention  of  pro- 
moting the  glory  of  God,  and  the  good  of  his  immortal 
soul,  you  will,  perhaps  find  that  nothing  was  farther 
from  his  thoughts.  Such  motives  as  these  never 
entered  into  his  calculations.  And  yet,  my  brethren, 
can  any  infatuation  be  greater  than  this?  Of  what 
use  can  any  of  these  schemes  be  to  you,  or  your 
family,  unless  they  conduce  to  your  spiritual  welfare  ? 
These  bodies  of  ours  may  dissolve  any  day  or  hour, 
and  rot,  and  be  mixed  with  the  common  dust,  and 
then,  where  are  all  your  schemes?  Meanwhile,  the 
soul  has  gone  before  the  judgment-seat  of  God ;  and 
what  will  take  place  there?  Will  God  ask  of  that 
soul :  Did  you  carefully  nurse  and  pamper  your  body, 
whilst  you  had  one  ?  Did  you  amass  a  fortune  ?  Did 
you  raise  your  position  in  the  world  ?  Did  you  make 


216  SERMONS  FOR  THE  YEAR 

your  name  famous?  Oh!  no,  nothing  of  the  kind; 
Almighty  God  will  ask  that  soul:  Hast  thou  loved 
"the  Lord  Thy  God  with  thy  whole  heart,  and  with 
thy  whole  soul,  and  with  all  thy  strength,  and  with 
all  thy  mind  ?' '  (Luke  X ;  27. )  Thereby  will  depend 
the  verdict  of  the  Almighty.  Bitterly  then,  but 
unavailingly,  will  the  soul  regret  that,  during  the 
brief  space  allotted  to  it,  it  did  not  occupy  itself  with 
its  Father's  business,  with  its  own  business,  with  the 
only  business  of  a  Christian,  the  salvation  of  our  soul. 
For,  whatever  else  we  may  have  done,  however  grand 
and  specious  it  may  appear  now,  will  then  appear 
vain  and  unprofitable. 

Do  not  misunderstand  me.  I  do  not  say  that  you 
are  not  to  engage  in  the  business  of  the  world,  or  to 
consult  your  temporal  interests.  Nothing  of  the 
kind.  There  are  some  who  are  called  to  renounce  the 
world;  and  there  are  others  who  are  not  so  called. 
To  these  latter  I  say,  that  in  all  your  works,  and  in 
all  your  plans,  you  must  first  seek  the  Kingdom  of 
God  and  His  Justice;  first  consult  your  spiritual 
interests;  and  when  your  spiritual  and  temporal  in- 
terests clash,  you  must  peremptorily  and  unhesita- 
tingly sacrifice  your  temporal  interests  for  the  good 
of  your  souls.  And  since  this  world  is  at  cross  pur- 
poses with  God,  the  occasion  will  often  occur  when 
you  will  have  to  make  this  sacrifice;  and  when  it 
comes,  let  us  make  it  without  a  murmur.  Beg, 
therefore,  of  our  divine  Lord,  that  He  would  enlight- 
en you  by  His  grace,  and  make  you  truly  wise  unto 
salvation.  That  He  would  strengthen  your  will  and 


I  SUNDAY  AFTER  EPIPHANY        217 

resolution,  so  as  to  enable  you  to  set  about  the  great 
business  of  your  salvation ;  to  overcome  every  obstacle 
which  stands  in  the  way;  to  persevere  in  well-doing, 
that  as  you  increase  in  years,  you  may  also  increase 
in  wisdom  and  in  grace,  before  God  and  men,  and  so 
merit  a  higher  degree  of  glory  in  the  Kingdom  of 
heaven. 


FIRST  SUNDAY  AFTER  EPIPHANY. 

(From  the  Lesson.) 

"/  beseech  you,  therefore,  brethren,  by  the  mercy  0} 
God,  that  you  present  your  bodies  a  living  sacrifice, 
holy,  pleasing  unto  God,  your  reasonable  service" 
(Rom.  XII;  1.) 

There  are  some  who  imagine  that  salvation  is  an 
affair  of  the  soul  alone;  just  as  there  are  some  who 
seem  to  think  that  works  of  religion  and  piety  are  a 
Sunday's  duty,  and  have  no  place  in  the  routine  of 
our  ordinary  work-day  lif  e .  But ,  surely  these  are  great 
delusions.  No  doubt,  the  soul  is  the  most  important 
part  of  our  being;  and  it  is  the  soul  which  determines, 
for  itself  and  for  the  body,  its  eternal  destiny. 
No  doubt,  also,  Sunday  is  a  day  specially  consecrated 
to  God's  service;  and  we  may  judge,  from  the  way  in 
which  any  one  spends  the  Lord's  day,  how  he  spends 
the  other  days  of  the  week.  Still,  we  must  not  forget 
that  the  body  is  also  an  integral  part  of  our  being; 
that  it  must  be  saved,  as  well  as  the  soul ;  that  as  the 
body  is  the  inseparable  partner  of  the  soul  in  its  guilt 


218  SERMONS  FOR  THE  YEAR 

and  punishment,  so  will  it  also  be  in  its  merit  and 
reward.  In  the  same  way,  not  only  Sunday,  but 
every  day  in  the  week,  is  the  Lord's  Day;  it  belongs 
to  God  alone;  and,  in  the  day  of  judgment,  we  shall 
have  to  render  an  account  to  God  for  every  instant 
of  time  we  have  spent  on  earth,  for  every  thought, 
word  and  action  of  our  whole  life. 

Hence,  our  blessed  Lord,  when  He  came  to  redeem 
us,  in  order  that  He  might  save  both  soul  and  body, 
took  a  human  body,  as  well  as  a  soul,  and  so  sanctified 
our  whole  nature.  This  is  why  the  apostle  so  often 
exhorts  the  faithful  to  reverence  their  own  bodies, 
as  the  shrines  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  who  has  taken  up 
His  abode  in  them.  "Know  you  not,"  says  he,"that 
your  members  are  the  temple  of  the  Holy  Ghost, 
Who  is  in  you,  Whom  you  have  from  God.  (I  Cor. 
VI;  19.)  Now,  whoso  defiles  the  temple  of  God, 
him  will  God  destroy."  (11)  Again,  when  he  is 
denouncing  the  sins  of  the  flesh,  he  uses  this  argu- 
ment: our  bodies  are,  by  baptism,  the  members  of 
Christ :  hence,  whenever  we  use  our  members  to  com- 
mit sin,  we  take  the  members  of  Christ ;  hence,  when- 
ever we  use  ourselves  to  commit  sin,  we  take  the  mem- 
bers of  Christ,  and  make  them  subservient  to  sin, 
which  must  needs  be  a  horrible  sacrilege.  (I  Cor. 
VI;  15.)  Let  us,  then  remember  this,  whenever 
we  are  tempted  to  sin,  and  it  will  help  us  to  over- 
come temptation.  For,  though  the  corruption  of 
our  own  nature  may  incline  us  to  evil,  yet  the  thought 
that  our  bodies  have  been  sanctified  by  the  Blood  of 
Jesus  Christ,  and  incorporated  with  Himself,  ought 


I 

I  SUNDAY  AFTER  EPIPHANY          219 

to  make  us  so  far  respect  and  reverence  them,  as  to 
be  ashamed  to  make  them  instruments  of  sin. 

Let  us  now  consider  how  the  Church  regards  the 
bodies  of  the  faithful.  From  our  first  entrance  into 
this  world,  to  our  departure  out  of  it,  they  are  the 
object  of  her  unceasing  maternal  solicitude.  In  holy 
baptism,  our  members  are  sprinkled  with  the  water 
of  resurrection;  they  are  anointed  with  holy  oil  and 
with  chrism;  they  are  enveloped  in  a  spotless  white 
robe;  they  are  hallowed  with  many  a  holy  rite  and 
ceremony,  expressive  of  that  redemption  of  our 
body  of  which  the  apostle  speaks,  by  which  they  are 
(Rom.  VIII;  23)  rescued  from  the  dominion  of  Satan, 
purified  and  sanctified,  so  as  to  make  them  fit  temples 
of  the  Holy  Ghost.  And  so,  throughout  life,  when- 
ever the  soul  is  visited  by  the  sanctifying  grace  of  the 
holy  sacraments,  it  is  through  the  medium  of  the 
body.  It  is  the  body  which  is  anointed  with  the 
sacred  chrism  in  Confirmation,  that  the  unction  of 
the  Holy  Spirit  may  abide  in  our  souls.  In  the  Holy 
Eucharist,  it  is  our  body  which  receives  and  is  united 
to  the  Most  Holy  Body  of  Christ,  that  we  may  live 
by  Him.  In  Penance,  it  is  by  our  lips  that  we  make 
confession  unto  salvation.  It  is  by  the  imposition 
of  hands  that  Priests  are  ordained  for  the  work  of  the 
sacred  ministry.  In  holy  Matrimony  it  is  especially 
the  bodies  of  the  faithful  which  are  sanctified  and 
consecrated,  to  make  them  capable  of  showing  forth, 
in  the  union  of  husband  and  wife,  the  indissoluble 
union  between  Chirst  and  His  Church.  And  when 
this  frail  body  of  ours  is  sick  unto  death,  a  heavenly 


220  SERMONS  FOR  THE  YEAR 

medicine  has  been  provided  for  it  in  the  sacrament  of 
Extreme  Unction. 

But,  you  will  say,  all  these  sacramental  rites,  these 
aspersions  and  benedictions  are  intended  for  the  soul, 
which  can  only  be  reached  through  the  body.  Well, 
then,  let  us  follow  a  Christian  to  that  last  hour  which 
must  come,  sooner  or  later,  to  all  of  you.  See  that 
corpse,  stretched  on  the  bed  of  death,  senseless, 
motionless,  lifeless,  soulless.  What  mean  those 
lights,  the  holy  water,  the  saving  sign  of  redemption? 
See  that  inanimate  corpse  borne  reverently  and 
tenderly  to  the  Church.  I/isten  to  the  solemn  an- 
thems of  hope  and  supplication,  whose  wailing  notes 
float  over  that  pall-clad  bier.  See  it  sprinkled  with 
holy  water;  see  the  clouds  of  incense  rising  over  it. 
See  it  embalmed  with  tears  of  pious  affection;  and 
then  ask  what  is  the  object  of  all  this  solemn  cere- 
monial and  pious  solicitude.  It  is  the  lifeless  body 
of  a  Christian,  from  which  the  soul  has  departed. 
Judge,  then,  my  brethren,  in  what  honour  and  esti- 
mation we  should  hold  this  body,  which,  from  the 
cradle  to  the  grave,  is  hallowed  with  so  many  conse- 
crating unctions,  and  environed  with  so  many  blessed 
influences. 

Nor  is  it,  my  dear  brethren,  at  all  inopportune 
that  we  should  dwell  on  these  thoughts  in  these  days 
of  ours.  In  the  very  earliest  age  of  the  Church,  a 
heresy  arose  which  impugned  these  doctrines ;  which 
declared  the  body  of  man  to  be  the  work  of  the  evil 
spirit,  and,  therefore,  a  subject  of  malediction.  This 
was  called  the  Manichean  heresy.  And  now,  in  these 


I  SUNDAY  AFTER  EPIPHANY        221 

our  days,  a  similar  heresy  has  arisen,  which  does  not, 
indeed,  attribute  the  human  body  to  the  work  of  the 
evil  spirit,  for  the  simple  reason  that  the  advo- 
cates of  those  theories  believe  in  no  spirits  at  all, 
good  or  evil;  but,  in  their  impiety,  they  attribute  it 
to  a  gradual  and  spontaneous  development  from  the 
lower  stages  of  animal  life;  so  that  man,  whom  God 
created  in  the  beginning  a  little  less  than  the  angels, 
is  reduced  (Ps.  VIII;  6)  by  these  philosophers  to  the 
level  of  the  brute  creation.  No  wonder,  if  they  who 
are  immersed  inworldlinessand  sensualism,  who  have 
no  more  faith  or  hope  in  a  future  state  than  the  brute 
beasts  themselves,  should  imagine  themselves  like 
the  brute  beasts.  "Man,  when  he  was  in  honour, 
did  not  understand ;  he  hath  been  compared  to  sense- 
less beasts,  and  is  become  like  to  them."  (Ps. 
XLVIII;  15.)r  No  wonder,  if  they  who  have  lost 
the  light  of  faith,  and  go  wandering  in  the  darkness 
of  their  own  conceits,  have  descended  to  these  depths 
of  intellectual  and  moral  degradation.  For,  "the 
sensual  man  perceiveth  not  those  things  that  are  of 
the  Spirit  of  God ;  for  it  is  foolishness  to  him,  and  he 
cannot  understand."  (I  Cor.  II;  14.)  Do  not  sup- 
pose, my  dear  brethren,  that  these  theories,  however 
extravagant  they  may  appear,  do  not  concern  us  at 
all ,  for  there  is  great  danger  that  the  faithful  them- 
selves may  become  infected  with  them.  They  are 
in  the  air ;  we  cannot  escape  them.  We  imbibe  them 
from  the  literature  we  read,  the  people  we  converse 
with;  unless,  therefore,  we  are  on  our  guard,  we  shall 
come  first  to  tolerate,  then  to  accept  these  theories, 


222  SERMONS  FOR  THE  YEAR 

and  so  make  shipwreck  of  that  precious  faith  which 
is  the  groundwork  of  all  our  hopes  for  this  life  and 
the  next.  I/et  us,  then,  hold  fast  the  faith  which 
we  have  received ;  and  be  not  led  astray  by  what  the 
apostle  calls:  "the  persuasive  words  of  human  wis- 
dom"; (I  Cor.  II;  4)  for,  "what  man  knoweth  the 
things  of  a  man,  but  the  spirit  of  a  man,  that  is  in 
him."  So  the  things  also  that  are  of  God,  no  man 
knoweth  but  the  Spirit  of  God.  "Now,"  the  apostle 
continues,  "we  have  received  not  the  spirit  of  this 
world,  but  the  Spirit  that  is  of  God,  that  we  may 
know  the  things  that  are  given  us  from  God."  (11, 
12.) 

If  we  wish  to  know  what  these  things  are  which 
are  given  us  from  God — what  is  the  origin  of  this 
body — what  is  its  end — in  what  manner  we  ought  to 
treat  it — how,  in  short,  we  may  "present  our  bodies 
a  living  sacrifice,  holy,  pleasing  to  God,  our  reason- 
able service;"  we  have  but  to  look  in  this  crib,  round 
which  we  still  devoutly  linger,  where  "God  is  mani- 
fest in  the  Flesh."  (I  Tim.  Ill ;  16.)  We  see  gather- 
ed round  that  humble  manger  the  Eastern  Kings, 
who  represent  the  collective  and  traditional  wisdom 
of  the  world.  They  were  the  depositories  of  the 
learning  and  wisdom  of  the  past  ages;  they  wielded 
the  sceptre  of  dominion;  and  they  are  come  to  lay  all 
these,  with  their  mystic  offerings  at  the  Feet  of  that 
poor  little  Infant.  They  understood  well  the  mys- 
tery which  they  adored.  This  Body  of  ours,  with 
all  its  ignominy,  is  no  longer  human;  it  is  henceforth 
and  forever  divine;  assumed  by  the  divine  Person  of 


I  SUNDAY  AFTER  EPIPHANY         223 

God  the  Son.  Therefore,  they  lavish  upon  that  holy 
One  their  gold,  their  frankincense,  their  myrrh;  to 
signify  that  this  earthly  clay  has  been  transmuted 
by  the  divine  contact  into  precious  gold;  that  that 
which  was  heretofore  a  mass  of  corruption,  must 
henceforth  be  consumed  as  a  living  sacrifice,  a  holo- 
caust exhaling  sweet  odours,  pleasing  to  God;  that 
this  corruptible  body,  embalmed  with  that  divine 
myrrh,  shall  put  on  incorruption,  and  this  mortal 
body  shall  put  on  immortality.  "And  when  this 
mortal  hath  put  on  immortality,  then  shall  come  to 
pass  the  saying  that  is  written:  'Death  is  swallowed 
up  in  victory.  O  death,  where  is  thy  victory?  O 
death,  where  is  thy  sting?'  "  (I  Cor.  XV;  53-56.) 
Now  the  sting  of  death  is  sin.  Yes,  my  brethren, 
this  is  the  conclusion  to  which  those  few  thoughts 
must  perforce  lead  us:  to  sin  no  more;  never  to  defile 
again,  by  lust  or  intemperance,  or  in  any  other  way, 
the  body  which  is  destined  to  share  with  our  soul  the 
joys  of  heavenly  bliss. 

FIRST  SUNDAY  AFTER  EPIPHANY. 

(Another  Sermon.     Abridged  from  Bourdaloue.) 

"Did  you  not  know  that  I  must  be  about  My 
Father's  business?"  (Luke  II;  49.) 

In  these  words,  my  dear  brethren,  which  are  the  first 
recorded  words  of  the  Incarnate  Wisdom,  our  divine 
Lord  conveys  to  all  parents  a  most  instructive  lesson 
on  the  conduct  they  ought  to  observe  in  bringing 
up  children,  especially  as  regards  the  choice  of  a  state 


224  SERMONS  FOR  THE  YEAR 

of  life.  I  propose,  therefore,  to  invite  your  devout 
consideration  to  this  important  subject,  about 
which  much  misconception  prevails.  Indeed,  if,  as 
the  Evangelist  tells  us,  Mary  and  Joseph  understood 
not  the  word  .which  our  Ix>rd  spoke  to  them,  we 
need  not  be  surprised  if  parents  in  general  have  such 
imperfect  notions  of  their  duties  towards  their 
children,  in  respect  to  their  vocation.  What  I  wish 
then  to  point  out  is,  first,  that  parents  have  no 
right  to  determine  the  vocation  of  their  children, 
and  secondly,  that  notwithstanding  this,  parents 
are  responsible  for  the  choice  which  their  children 
make. 

I.  For,  my  brethren,  it  belongs  to  God  alone 
to  dispose  of  the  vocation  of  His  creatures.  He  is 
the  Father  of  all  mankind;  and  His  Providence 
alone  is  able  to  carry  out  and  accomplish  all  that  is 
implied  in  a  vocation.  God  is  our  Father;  if  then 
earthly  parents  dare  to  usurp  the  paternal  preroga- 
tive of  Almighty  God,  might  He  not,  with  justice, 
exclaim  by  the  voice  of  the  prophet:  "If  then  I  be 
a  Father,  where  is  My  honour?"  (Mai.  I;  6.)  A 
vocation  is  a  spiritual  thing;  hence,  the  right  to  de- 
termine it  belongs  to  Him  alone  Who  created  the 
spirit,  in  which  earthly  parents  have  no  share  what- 
ever. For,  as  the  mother  of  the  Machabees  truly 
observed:  "I  neither  gave  you  breath,  nor  soul,  nor 
life."  (II  Mach.  VII;  22.)  Hence,  the  wise  man 
says:  "Thou,  being  Master  of  power,  judgest  with 
tranquility,  and  disposest  of  us  with  great  rever- 
ence." (Wisd.  XII;  18.)  Observe  this  expression, 


I  SUNDAY  AFTER  EPIPHANY        225 

my  dear  brethren;  it  is  as  if  he  would  say  that  the 
reverence  due  to  each  human  being,  in  respect  to 
his  vocation,  is  such  and  so  great  that  parents,  with 
their  infirmities  and  shortsightedness,  could  not 
safely  be  trusted  with  it.  It  was  necessary  that  the 
destinies  of  an  immortal  soul  should  be  safe-guarded 
against  the  low  and  narrow  views  and  selfish  inter- 
ests of  worldly  parents.  In  fact,  to  determine  any- 
one's vocation  would  require  a  depth  of  wisdom, 
and  a  far-reaching  foresight  and  providence,  to 
which  parents  can  lay  no  sort  of  claim.  From 
which  it  clearly  appears  that  God  never  intended 
them  to  discharge  a  duty  for  which  they  are  wholly 
unqualified.  Bear  in  mind  how  much  the  salva- 
tion of  each  one  depends  on  his  state  of  life. 

The  state  of  life  is  the  way  by  which  God  intends 
us  to  be  saved.  To  it  are  attached  those  graces  and 
means  of  salvation  which  God  has  determined  to 
give  us.  If,  then,  we  are  out  of  that  state  of  life, 
God  is  not  pledged  to  give  us  those  special  graces 
which  would  be  necessary  to  compensate  for  those 
graces  which  we  should  miss  by  being  in  a  state 
other  than  that  to  which  God  has  called  us.  If, 
then,  a  parent  claimed  the  right  to  prescribe  the  vo- 
cation of  his  child — to  exercise  that  right — he  must 
first  be  instructed  in  the  secrets  of  pre-destination; 
he  must  see  the  whole  series  and  order  of  graces 
from  first  to  last;  the  temptations  and  dangers 
which  lie  in  the  way;  he  must  penetrate  the  myster- 
ies of  futurity;  he  must  be  able  to  read  the  inner- 
most heart  of  his  child,  and  see  there  the  germs  of 


226  SERMONS  FOR  THE  YEAR 

dispositions,  at  present  hidden,  but  which  would 
develop  themselves  afterwards  under  certain  con- 
tingencies. Now  where,  I  ask,  is  the  parent  who 
can  make  any  pretense  to  such  competency  as  this, 
to  determine  his  child's  vocation?  All  this  the 
Providence  of  God  alone  can  do;  and  this  is  what 
the  Providence  of  God  does,  when  He  disposes  of  us 
with  great  reverence.  How  many  are  saved  in  the 
state  of  life  to  which  God  has  called  them,  who 
would  infallibly  have  been  lost  in  any  other  state 
of  life,  to  which  their  misguided  parents  might  wish 
to  force  them. 

The  duty,  then,  of  parents,  is  not  to  determine 
this  matter  themselves,  but  humbly  to  seek  what 
is  God's  pleasure;  to  pray  fervently  that  He  would 
make  it  known  to  them;  to  use  the  ordinary  means 
to  find  it  out;  and  then  when  found,  to  submit  to 
the  divine  Will  entirely  and  unreservedly.  How 
unreasonable,  then,  are  the  complaints  which  one 
sometimes  hears  from  parents,  when  their  children, 
against  their  wish,  declare  themselves  called  to 
embrace  the  religious  state;  and  how  unjust  and 
wicked  is  the  resistence  which  they  sometimes  make 
to  these  divine  vocations.  It  is  nothing  less  than 
rebellion  against  God  and  His  grace.  How  weak 
and  ridiculous  are  the  arguments  which  they  use  to 
justify  their  opposition.  This  son,  who  feels  him- 
self called  to  the  ecclesiastical  state,  is  the  only  hope 
of  a  noble  and  ancient  family;  but  for  him,  the  family 
will  become  extinct.  Well,  what  if  it  does?  All 
families  will  be  extinguished  sooner  or  later.  And 


I  SUNDAY  AFTER  EPIPHANY         227 

how,  I  ask,  can  a  family  terminate  its  career  more 
honourably  than  by  carrying  out  the  decrees  of  the 
Most  High?  Again,  what  injury  and  injustice  do 
not  the  parents  inflict  upon  their  children,  in  de- 
priving them  of  this  most  sacred  right,  which  is 
secured  to  them  by  all  laws  human  and  divine. 
For  natural  right  demands  that  he  should  choose 
his  state  for  himself  who  has  to  bear  its  responsi- 
bility, and  fulfill  its  obligations.  Each  one  will 
have  to  answer  for  himself  at  the  judgment-seat 
of  God;  and  no  other  for  him.  The  determination, 
therefore,  of  one's  vocation,  is  a  matter  that  rests 
entirely  between  the  individual  soul  and  God. 

Amongst  the  letters  of  St.  Bernard,  there  is  one 
addressed  to  a  man  of  the  world,  who  felt  himself 
called  to  the  religious  life,  but  whom  his  mother 
endeavoured  to  retain  in  the  world.  "What  shall 
I  say  to  you?"  says  St.  Bernard:  "Abandon  your 
mother?  That  seems  undutiful.  Remain  with  her? 
But  you  will  lose  your  soul.  That  you  shall  belong 
to  Jesus  Christ  and  the  world  at  the  same  time  ?  The 
gospel  says  you  cannot  do  that.  Your  mother's 
wish  is  opposed  to  your  salvation;  consequently,  to 
her  own.  Make  your  choice,  then,  either  to  gratify 
her  wish,  or  else  to  secure  the  salvation  of  both  of 
you.  But  if  you  really  love  her,  quit  her  for  the  very 
love  you  bear  her;  for  fear  lest,  by  keeping  you  with 
her,  and  making  you  give  up  Jesus  Chirst,  she  come 
to  ruin  both  herself  and  you."  Let  parents,  then, 
respect  the  inviolable  right  of  their  children.  God 


228  SERMONS  FOR  THE  YEAR 

does  not  oblige  you  to  make  them  rich;  but  He  does 
oblige  you  to  leave  them  free. 

II.  Nevertheless,  my  brethren,  it  is  undoubtedly 
true  that  parents  have  very  grave  duties  to  dis- 
charge in  respect  of  the  vocation  of  their  children. 
The  responsibilities  of  parents  certainly  imposes  on 
them  the  duty,  not  of  determining,  but  of  guiding 
and  counselling  their  children;  of  training  and  educa- 
ting them,  of  watching  over  them  with  the  utmost 
solicitude;  to  guard  them  against  rash  and  improper 
decisions;  and  to  secure  that  the  choice  they  make 
is  according  to  God's  holy  Will.  When  a  son  or 
daughter  is  about  to  settle  himself  or  herself  in  life, 
by  entering  into  the  married  state,  the  law  of  God 
requires  that  they  should  first  consult  their  parents 
and  obtain  their  consent.  This  manifestly  supposes 
a  duty  on  the  part  of  parents,  to  guide  and  direct 
their  children  with  the  utmost  prudence  in  such  an 
important  matter.  But  not  only  does  it  suppose 
the  intervention  of  parents  in  the  final  decision  of 
such  matters;  but  it  also  supposes  the  manifold  pre- 
cautions which  parents  ought  to  take,  in  long  antici- 
pation of  such  decisions,  by  carefully  choosing  the 
acquaintances  which  their  children  make;  by  taking 
care  to  remove  far  away  from  them  everything  that 
could  warp  their  judgment,  or  lead  them  into  danger. 

Again,  who  can  douht  that  a  great  responsibility 
attaches  to  parents,  in  regard  of  the  professions  and 
avocations  which  their  children  adopt.  It  may  be 
that  the  career  chosen  is  one  full  of  peril  to  the  salva- 
tion of  those  who  pursue  it.  If  then,  parents,  through 


I  SUNDAY  AFTER  EPIPHANY         229 

excessive  eagerness  for  temporal  advantages,  over- 
look this  peril,  and  encourage  and  promote  their 
children's  dangerous  aspirations,  they  will  undoubt- 
edly have  to  answer  for  the  fatal  consequences  of 
their  criminal  co-operation.  But,  even  if  the  pursuit 
chosen  is  not  of  itself  dangerous  to  the  soul,  it  may 
yet  happen  that  the  choice  is  a  bad  one,  with  refer- 
ence to  the  person  who  is  to  fill  it,  and  who  may  be 
altogether  unfitted  and  unqualified  for  such  a  post. 
This,  then,  is  another  matter  which  falls  under  the 
responsibility  of  parents;  they  must  consider,  not 
only  whether  the  pursuit  be  in  itself  lawful  and  safe, 
but  also  whether  it  be  such  as  is  suited  to  the  capacity 
and  ability  of  the  subject.  There  is  yet  a  third 
matter  to  be  considered;  namely,  the  means  which 
are  employed  to  embark  the  subject  on  the  wished- 
for  career.  That  career  may  be  a  legitimate  one, 
and  the  subject  may  be  every  way  qualified  for  it; 
but  if  parents  resort  to  illegitimate  means;  if,  for 
example,  in  order  to  secure  a  desirable  match,  they 
resort  to  means  and  devices,  which  are  reprobated 
by  the  law  of  God,  they  are  certainly  guilty  of  a  grave 
violation  of  parental  responsibility. 

Let  parents,  then,  use  their  utmost  endeavour  to 
train  up  the  children  whom  God  has  placed  under 
their  care,  to  render  them  capable  of  discharging  the 
duties  of  the  vocation  to  which  they  may  be  called. 
The  office  of  a  parent  is  undoubtedly  one  of  great 
responsibility;  but  it  is  also  one  which  offers  un- 
bounded opportunities  of  merit.  It  is  an  office  which 
imposes  on  them  a  constant  watchfulness,  which  is 


230  SERMONS  FOR  THE  YEAR 

replete  with  continual  care  and  anxiety.  But 
not  one  of  these  crosses  is  lost  in  the  sight  of  God. 
They,  indeed,  constitute  the  chief  means  by  which 
parents  are  to  sanctify  themselves.  If  your  children 
do  not  profit  by  your  endeavours  in  their  behalf,  you, 
at  least,  will  be  acquitted  before  God  of  the  great 
responsibility  you  have  incurred.  But  if,  happily, 
by  God's  blessing,  they  do  respond  to  all  your  care 
and  solicitude,  what  a  consolation  for  you,  even  in 
this  life,  to  watch  the  growth  of  a  well-ordered  family, 
and,  above  all,  what  happiness  to  find  yourselves 
one  day  reunited,  and  for  ever,  in  the  joys  of  a  happy 
eternity. 


FIRST  SUNDAY  AFTER  EPIPHANY. 
(Another  Sermon;  Abridged  from  Bossuet.) 

"So  we,  being  many,  are  one  body  in  Christ,  and 
every  one  members  one  of  another."  (Rom.  XII;  5.) 

In  that  touching  discourse  which  our  I/ord  held 
with  His  disciples  after  the  last  supper,  the 
night  before  He  suffered,  we  find  that  He  prayed  to 
His  heavenly  Father  to  grant  one  special  request — 
to  preserve  the  unity  of  the  Church  which  He  came 
to  establish.  "Holy  Father,"  He  said,  "keep  them 
in  Thy  name  whom  Thou  hast  given  Me;  that  they 
may  be  one,  as  We  also  are."  (John  XVII;  11.) 
Again  and  again,  He  reiterated  this  prayer:  "that 
they  all  may  be  one,  as  Thou,  Father,  in  Me,  and  I 
in  Thee;  that  they  also  may  be  one  in  us.  And  the 


I  SUNDAY  AFTER  EPIPHANY         231 

glory  which  Thou  hast  given  Me,  I  have  given  to  them, 
that  they  may  be  one,  as  We  also  are  one.  I  in  them, 
and  Thou  in  Me,  that  they  may  be  made  perfect  in 
one."  (21.)  Hence,  the  unity  of  the  three  divine 
Persons,  in  which  consists  the  essential  Beauty  of 
the  Godhead,  is  the  type  and  model  of  the  unity  by 
which  we,  being  many  members,  are  one  body  in 
Christ.  Hence,  too,  after  the  Godhead  Itself,  noth- 
ing is  more  beautiful  than  the  Church  of  Christ,  be- 
cause in  her  the  divine  unity  is  so  faithfully  repre- 
sented. 

This  unity  is  the  work  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  Who,  as 
in  the  Bosom  of  the  Holy  Trinity,  He  is  the  mutual 
Love  of  Father  and  Son,  and  is  the  substantial  union 
of  Them  Both ;  so  also,  He  represents  and  effects  the 
mutual  I,o ve  of  Christ  and  His  Church;  and  is  the 
bond  of  union  by  which  the  Church  is  kept  the  one, 
indefectible  and  inviolable  Spouse  of  Christ.  But, 
my  brethren,  the  Holy  Ghost,  Who  acts  on  the  souls 
of  men  with  the  utmost  reverence,  in  preserving 
(Wisd.  XII;  18)  the  unity  of  the  Church,  has  to  deal 
with  human  subjects ;  and,  therefore,  employs  human 
methods  and  instruments  to  bring  about  the  required 
unity.  Chief  of  all  these  human  instruments  is  the 
Primacy  of  St.  Peter,  Chief  of  the  Apostolic  College, 
perpetuated  in  his  successors  in  the  apostolic  See  of 
Rome. 

This  primacy  of  authority  and  jurisdiction  is  the 
human  means  which  the  Holy  Spirit  deigns  to  employ, 
to  secure  the  necessary  unity  of  faith  and  practice  in 
the  Church  of  Christ.  It  was,  then,  Simon,  son  of 


232  SERMONS  FOR  THE  YEAR 

John,  who  was  chosen  by  our  Lord,  out  of  all  the 
apostles,  to  be  the  rock  on  which  He  would  build 
His  Church;  to  whom,  therefore,  He  gave  the  name 
of  Peter,  symbolical  of  that  office;  to  signify  that  the 
Church  should  derive  its  firmness  and  solidity,  and 
consequent  unity,  from  the  firmness  and  solidity  of 
the  rock  on  which  it  was  built.  To  him,  moreover, 
He  gave  the  Keys  of  the  Kingdom  of  Heaven,  the 
supreme  power  of  binding  and  loosing,  that,  where 
all  were  subject  to  one  supreme  authority,  all  might 
be  guided  to  one  course  of  sentiment  and  action.  It 
is  true  that  the  same  power  of  binding  and  loosing 
was  given  to  all  the  apostles  collectively;  but  it  was 
given  them,  after  it  had  been  conferred  on  Peter 
singly  and  in  all  its  plentitude;  whose  power,  there- 
fore, and  authority  could  not  be  Kmited  by  the  sub- 
sequent powers  conferred  on  the  other  apostles;  for 
the  gifts  of  God  are  without  repentance.  Hence, 
what  they  received  was  held  by  them  in  subordina- 
tion to  the  plentitude  of  power  conferred  on  St.  Peter, 
whose  sole  office  it  was  to  feed  the  whole  flock  of 
Christ,  the  sheep,  as  well  as  the  lambs — the  pastors, 
as  well  as  the  faithful.  Thus  did  Almighty  God,  in 
this  orderly  and  admirable  way,  secure  the  unity  of 
His  Church,  by  first  establishing  the  source  and 
principle  of  all  authority,  and  then  dividing  the  func- 
tions of  this  authority  amongst  those  who  were  to 
exercise  the  pastoral  charge,  always  in  dependence 
upon  the  chief  corner-stone  of  the  divine  edifice.  It 
is  in  consequence  of  this  intimate  union  between  the 
head  and  members,  that  the  Church  of  Christ  presents 


I  SUNDAY  AFTER  EPIPHANY         233 

the  spectacle  described  in  the  Canticle:  "Thou  art 
beautiful,  O  my  love,  sweet  and  comely  as  Jerusa- 
lem, terrible  as  an  army  set  in  array."  (Cant.  VI; 
3.)  Beautiful  in  that  order,  peace  and  harmony 
which  spring  from  unity;  terrible  in  her  strength 
with  which  she  subdues  all  heresy,  and  every  height 
that  lifteth  itself  up  against  the  knowledge  of  God. 
This  beauty  and  this  strength  are  derived  from  that 
divine  unity  by  which  the  Church  is  constituted  one 
body,  whose  members  are  associated  together  in 
exquisite  harmony  and  proportion.  Compacted 
into  unity  by  the  chair  of  Peter,  the  centre  of  unity. 
Thus.it  was  ordained  by  divine  Providence  that  the 
Churches  of  Christendom  should  derive  their  faith, 
their  discipline,  their  ecclesiastical  organization 
from  Rome,  the  mother  and  mistress  of  all  the 
churches.  Confining  our  attention  to  our  own 
country,  we  shall  find  that  such  was  incontestably 
the  case.  Christianity  was  first  preached  and 
taught  in  this  land  by  missionaries  sent  from  Rome 
by  the  Pope  St.  Eletherius,  in  the  second  century. 
And  we  may  well  exult  in  the  fact  that  the  first 
Christian  King  was  our  own  British  King,  Lucius, 
who  was  of  the  same  family  as  the  British  princess, 
Claudia,  wife  of  the  Roman  senator,  Pudes,  in  whose 
house  at  Rome,  St.  Peter  first  established  his  apos- 
tolic chair.  When  the  ancient  British  Church  suc- 
cumbed to  the  inroads  of  the  pagan  Saxons  in  the 
fifth  and  sixth  centuries,  and  this  island  was  once 
more  enveloped  in  the  darkness  of  idolatry  and 
barbarism,  it  was  the  zeal  and  charity  of  a  great 


234  SERMONS  FOR  THE  YEAR 

Pope,  the  great  St.  Gregory,  which  moved  him  to 
found  once  more  an  illustrious  Church  in  this  far-off 
island  of  the  sea.  Accordingly,  he  despatched  from 
his  own  monastery,  on  the  Coelian  Hill,  St.  Augustine, 
with  his  companion — monks,  to  achieve  the  con- 
quest of  this  new  kingdom;  to  bow  down  under  the 
sweet  yoke  of  Christ  this  fierce  and  indomitable 
race.  We  know  with  what  success  God  rewarded 
their  apostolic  zeal.  The  Venerable  Bede  himself, 
a  living  monument  of  what  these  Roman  Mission- 
aries achieved,  has  recorded  it  in  his  immortal  work. 
But  what  I  wish  to  point  out  is,  that  if  anything 
stands  out  clearly  and  unmistakably  defined  in  the 
records  of  that  distant  past,  it  is  the  earnestness 
with  which  our  forefathers  in  the  faith  struggled  for 
the  unity  of  the  church,  through  communion  of  faith 
and  discipline  with  the  Church  of  Rome.  To  this 
end  were  the  life-long  labours  of  St.  Wilfrid,  that 
great  luminary  of  the  Anglo-Saxon  Church,  directed. 
For  this  St.  Dunstan  laboured  through  good  report 
and  ill  report,  never  ceasing  in  his  arduous  toil 
until  he  had  repaired  the  ravages  caused  by  the  wild 
sea-kings  of  the  North,  and  made  England  to  flour- 
ish once  more  as  a  fair  garden,  in  the  domain  of  holy 
Church. 

The  unity  of  the  Church  manifests  itself  nowhere 
more  conspicuously  than  in  its  relations  with  the 
civil  governments  of  the  various  nations  which  com- 
pose the  Christian  Commonwealth.  These  rela- 
tions may  be  harmonious  or  discordant.  Unhappily, 
so  widely  is  the  empire  of  Satan  extended  over  the 


I  SUNDAY  AFTER  EPIPHANY        235 

ruling  powers  of  this  world,  that  they  are  almost 
invariably  of  the  latter  kind ;  nevertheless,  in  either 
case,  those  relations,  whether  of  concord  or  discord, 
clearly  prove  that  the  unity  of  the  Church  is  the 
cardinal  point  on  which  everything  else  turns. 
Thus,  to  go  back  once  more  to  the  days  of  our  Saxon 
ancestors,  when  and  where  has  the  Church  found  a 
nursing  father  to  compare  with  our  Alfred  the 
Great;  or  again,  Edgar  the  Peaceful,  who  uttered 
these  memorable  words  to  the  Council  of  Prelates 
whom  he  was  addressing:  "I  wield  the  sword  of 
Constantine;  you,  that  of  Peter.  Let  us  join  our 
right  hands  and  unite  sword  to  sword."  But  no 
less  evidently  does  the  unity  of  the  Church  manifest 
itself  in  times  of  conflict  and  discord;  as  when  the 
great  St.  Thomas  of  Canterbury  fell  a  martyr  to  that 
liberty  of  the  Church,  which  is  a  necessary  condi- 
tion of  its  unity. 

The  solicitude  of  the  Church  to  safe-guard  the 
unity  which  is  so  essential  to  its  existence,  shows 
itself  in  the  earnestness  with  which  she  insists  upon 
frequent  meetings  of  the  pastors  of  the  Church, 
in  synods  and  councils;  even  as  St.  Paul  deemed  it 
necessary,  though  he  had  been  rapt  up  to  the  third 
heaven,  (II  Cor.  XII;  2)  to  confer  with  St.  Peter,  lest 
perchance  he  should  run  in  vain.  (Gal.  II;  2.) 
Not  that  such  a  conference  was  necessary  for  St. 
Paul,  to  whom  the  whole  mystery  of  redemption 
had  been  revealed  immediately  by  our  I/ord  Jesus 
Christ,  but  that  he  might  give  an  example,  and,  as 
it  were,  prescribe  the  form  which  should  be  observed 


236  SERMONS  FOR  THE  YEAR 

by  all  pastors  of  the  Church,  lest  perhaps  they  should 
run  in  vain,  by  neglecting  those  human  means  and 
precautions  which,  under  the  guidance  of  the  Holy 
Ghost,  are  subservient  to  the  maintenance  of  per- 
fect unity  in  the  Church. 

For  we  must  not  forget  that  the  tendencies  of 
human  nature,  if  left  to  itself,  are  altogether  in  the 
opposite  direction;  namely,  towards  diversity  and 
multiplicity;  as  we  see  in  the  history  of  Protestant- 
ism and  the  myriad  sects  to  which  it  has  given  rise. 
Consequently,  the  unity  of  the  Catholic  Church  can 
only  be  the  fruit  of  a  perpetual  struggle  against 
these  natural  tendencies,  and  the  triumph  of  grace 
over  human  weakness. 

And  you,  faithful  children  of  holy  Church,  what 
is  your  duty,  but  to  labour  strenuously  to  keep  your 
hearts  and  minds  in  perfect  unison  with  the  heart 
and  mind  of  your  Mother,  the  Church.  Say  with 
the  Psalmist:  "I/et  my  tongue  cleave  to  my  jaws 
if  I  do  not  remember  thee;  if  I  make  not  Jerusalem 
the  beginning  of  my  joy."  (Ps.  CXXXVI;  6.) 
The  graces  of  illumination  bestowed  on  the  pastors 
of  the  church,  are  given  in  answer  to  the  prayers  of 
the  faithful.  As  St.  Augustine  observes:  "They 
are  the  secret  sighs  of  so  many  innocent  doves, 
throughout  the  Church,  which  draw  down  the  grace 
of  the  Holy  Spirit."  Pray  then,  unceasingly,  for 
yourselves — pray  for  the  holy  Church;  that  we,  being 
many,  may  be  one  body  in  Christ,  members  of  one 
another — one  heart  and  one  mind.  May  this  divine 
union  show  itself  in  the  steadfastness  with  which 


OCTAVE  OF   EPIPHANY  237 

we  confess  the  one  true  faith ;  in  the  charity  with 
which  we  love  one  another  in  God  and  for  God;  and 
may  it  be  perfected  hereafter  by  our  eternal  union 
with  God  in  His  heavenly  Kingdom. 


OCTAVE  OF  EPIPHANY. 

(Jan.  13.    From  the  Gospel.) 

"Behold  the  Lamb  of  God;  behold  Him  Who  taketh 
away  the  sins  of  the  world."  (John  I;  29.) 

The  meaning  of  the  Feast  of  the  Epiphany,  which 
we  are  now  keeping,  is  explained  by  the  Church  in  the 
antiphon  to  the  Magnificat,  which  will  be  sung  this 
evening  at  Vespers.  It  runs  as  follows:  "We  keep 
a  holiday  adorned  by  three  miracles;  on  this  day  a 
star  led  the  wise  men  to  the  manger;  on  this  day 
water  was  turned  into  wine  at  the  marriage-feast; 
on  this  day  in  the  Jordan,  Christ  was  pleased  to  be 
baptized  by  John,  that  He  might  save  us.  Alleluia." 
Of  this  threefold  mystery,  which  forms  the  subject 
of  this  festival,  I  propose,  my  dear  brethren,  to 
draw  your  attention  to  that  portion  which  is 
described  in  this  day's  gospel:  the  baptism  of  our 
Lord  in  the  Jordan  by  St.  John,  the  Baptist.  But 
first,  let  me  observe,  that  this  passage  does  not  record 
the  actual  baptism,  but  John's  testimony  to  that 
baptism.  The  circumstances  under  which  that 
testimony  was  given  were  these:  John,  by  his 
preaching  and  baptizing,  had  caused  a  general 
awakening  of  the  whole  country.  The  people  were 


238  SERMONS  FOR  THE  YEAR 

aroused,  and  moved  to  repentance.  They  came  in 
vast  crowds  from  Jerusalem  and  the  neighbouring 
towns,  confessing  their  sins,  and  seeking  baptism  at 
his  hands.  The  priests  and  scribes  were  perplexed, 
and  did  not  know  what  to  make  of  this  religious 
movement.  They  were  afraid  to  use  harsh  meas- 
ures ;  for  John  was  revered  as  a  Saint  by  all  the  people. 
So  they  came  to  the  conclusion  to  send  a  deputation 
to  John,  in  order  that  by  their  superior  learning  and 
authority,  they  might  impair  his  influence  and  put 
an  end  to  his  mission.  9 

The  deputation  proceeded  to  catechize  John,  and 
asked  him  if  he  was  the  Christ,  or  Elias,  or  the  prophet 
whose  coming  was  expected  by  the  people.  To  all 
these  questions  John  simply  answered  in  the  nega- 
tive. Then  they  went  on  to  ask  him,  no  doubt 
with  an  air  of  triumph:"  If  thou  art  neither  Christ, 
nor  Elias,  nor  the  prophet,  why  then,  dost  thou 
baptize?"  His  answer  was:  "I  am  the  Voice  of  one 
crying  in  the  wilderness:  I  baptize  in  water;  but 
there  hath  stood  One  in  the  midst  of  you,  whom 
you  know  not.  The  same  is  He  that  shall  come 
after  me;  who  is  preferred  before  me."  Now  it  was 
on  the  day  after  this  interview,  whilst  John  was 
still  at  Bethany,  surrounded  by  his  disciples  and 
the  multitude  who  had  come  out  to  hear  him,  that 
he  saw  our  Lord  in  the  distance.  How  must  he 
have  exulted  at  seeing  Him,  when  we  know  that 
whilst  He  was  still  an  infant  in  His  mother's  womb, 
he  leaped  for  joy,  not  at  His  sight,  but  through  the 
mere  consciousness  of  His  presence,  when  the  blessed 


OCTAVE  OE  EPIPHANY  239 

Virgin,  bearing  our  Saviour  in  her  womb,  visited 
her  cousin,  St.  Elizabeth. 

Our  blessed  Lord  was  just  commencing  His  public 
ministry.  He  had  travelled  from  Galilee  to  the 
banks  of  the  Jordan,  where  John  was.  John  saw 
Him  at  a  distance,  but  sufficiently  near  to  be  able 
to  point  Him  out  to  his  disciples  in  those  memorable 
words:  "Behold  the  Lamb  of  God;  behold  Him  Who 
taketh  away  the  sins  of  the  world."  What  must 
have  been  the  joy  of  those  faithful  disciples,  when 
their  Redeemer  was  pointed  out  to  them!  He,  who 
should  baptize  them,  not  with  water  only,  but  with 
the  Holy  Ghost  and  with  fire;  whose  baptism  should 
have  power  to  wash  away  all  the  stains  of  sin  from 
their  souls. 

Every  day,  my  brethren,  the  same  words  are  pro- 
nounced at  the  altar.  Every  day  does  the  priest 
take  into  his  hands  the  Sacred  Host,  and  say: 
"Behold  the  Lamb  of  God;  behold  Him  Who  takes 
away  the  sins  of  the  world !"  But  how  few  are  they 
who  assist  every  day  at  the  holy  sacrifice,  and  hear 
those  consoling  words !  We  have  other  things  which 
interest  us  far  more  deeply.  One  has  his  farm, 
another  his  merchandise,  a  third  has  his  family  to 
provide  for;  or,  perhaps,  it  is  some  attraction  still 
more  culpable  than  these.  It  matters  not;  every 
one  can  find  some  more  or  less  plausible  excuse  for 
neglecting  the  holy  Mass,  the  sacrifice  of  the  Lamb 
of  God,  Who  taketh  away  the  sins  of  the  world. 
Or,  perhaps,  we  are  present  at  the  holy  Mass,  and 
do  hear  those  words;  but  how  do  we  hear  them? 


240  SERMONS  FOR  THE  YEAR 

Is  it  with  that  rapture  of  devotion,  with  that  lively 
faith,  with  that  ardent  love,  with  which  the  disciples 
of  John  looked  on  their  Redeemer;  or  is  it  not  with 
listless  indifference,  with  wandering  minds,  with 
cold  apathy  and  weary  impatience? 

My  brethren,  if  we  turn  a  deaf  ear  to  those  words, 
if  we  will  not  come  to  hear  them,  or  hearing  them, 
pay  no  attention  to  them,  there  is  another  warning, 
of  the  same  John  the  Baptist,  which  we  shall  be 
obliged  to  hear,  and  which  we  must  attend  to, 
whether  we  will  or  not.  "For  now  the  axe  is  laid 
to  the  root  of  the  trees.  Every  tree,  therefore,  that 
bringeth  not  forth  good  fruit,  shall  be  cut  down,  and 
cast  into  the  fire.  His  'fan  is  in  His  Hand;  and  He 
will  purge  His  floor,  and  will  gather  the  wheat  into 
His  barn ;  but  the  chaff  He  will  burn  with  unquench- 
able fire.'"  (Luke  III;  9,  17.)  These  are  appalling 
words,  my  dear  brethren.  It  rests,  then,  entirely 
with  ourselves,  whether  our  divine  Lord,  Whom 
the  Baptist  this  day  points  out  to  us,  shall  be  to  us 
a  Saviour  Who  takes  away  all  our  sins  or  a  Judge 
Who  shall  condemn  us  to  the  unquenchable  fire. 

It  is  a  remarkable  thing,  my  brethren,  that  one 
so  holy  and  so  exalted  as  St.  John,  should  have  had 
so  little  personal  intercourse  with  our  Lord.  From 
the  time  when  our  Lord  visited  him,  and  sanctified 
him  whilst  he  was  still  in  his  Mother's  womb,  three 
times  only,  during  their  life,  did  they  meet.  The 
first  time  was  when  our  Lord  was  baptized  by  John, 
they  being  then  about  thirty  years  of  age.  And 
then,  as  John  himself  tells  us,  he  knew  Him  not, 


OCTAVE  OF  EPIPHANY  241 

until  he  saw  the  Holy  Spirit  descending  on  Him  in 
the  form  of  a  dove.  The  second  time  was  this  occa- 
sion of  which  we  are  speaking;  and  the  third  occurred 
subsequently.  Only  on  the  first  occasion  was  there 
any  conversation  between  them,  and  that  was  very 
brief.  What  a  flood  of  light  does  not  this  fact  throw 
over  the  ways  of  God,  showing  how  different  they 
are  from  the  ways  of  men!  Who  would  not  have 
thought  that  John,  the  only  man  living  who  knew 
that  Jesus  was  the  Son  of  God,  would  have  sought 
Him  out,  and  remained  with  Him  ?  Who  would  have 
thought  that  he  could  have  waited  for  thirty  years 
before  seeing  Him?  Or  that,  after  once  seeing  Him, 
he  could  ever  have  torn  himself  away  from  Him? 
And  yet,  so  it  was;  for  such  was  the  Will  of  God. 
It  is  this  which  makes  the  difference  between  the 
Saints  and  others;  whilst  others  follow  the  dictates 
of  mere  human  prudence  and  the  bent  of  their  own 
inclinations,  the  saints  are  actuated  on  all  occasions 
by  what  they  know  to  be  "the  good  and  acceptable 
and  the  perfect  Will  of  God."  (Rom.  XII;  2.) 
Hence,  St.  John  was  content  to  live  apart  from  Him 
Who  was  the  life  and  light  of  all  men  (John  I;  6), 
to  labour  incessantly  in  preaching  penance,  and  pre- 
paring the  way  of  our  Lord,  to  die  an  ignominious 
death,  for  he  was  beheaded  to  gratify  the  whim  of  a 
dancing-girl;  and  all  this,  with  no  more  consolation 
from  the  Lord's  divine  presence  than  what  has  been 
indicated  to  you. 

Now,  you  may  be  quite  sure  that  my  object  in 
pointing  out  this  fact  to  you,  is  not  to  reproach  you 


242  SERMONS  FOR  THE  YEAR 

for  being  too  anxious  to  follow  our  blessed  Lord. 
Quite  the  reverse.  My  object  is  to  exhort  you  to 
follow  out  your  vocation  and  to  do  the  Will  of  God. 
St.  John  was  called  to  sanctify  himself  by  denying 
himself  the  consolation  of  our  Lord's  presence. 
You  are  called  to  sanctify  yourselves  by  living  in 
that  presence,  by  walking  as  closely  as  you  can  in 
our  Lord's  footsteps.  And,  as  St.  John  would  have 
lost  his  reward  had  he  been  unfaithful  to  his  voca- 
tion, so  will  you  lose  yours,  if  you  be  unfaithful  to 
your  vocation;  if  you  hold  aloof  from  Him  Who  is 
the  Lamb  of  God,  Who  taketh  away  the  sins  of  the 
world. 

This,  then,  is  the  resolution  which  I  would  exhort 
you  to  make  this  day :  that,  as  on  this  day,  our  Lord, 
deigned  to  make  Himself  a  sinner  and  be  baptized, 
that  He  might  save  us;  so  we,  on  this  day,  will  renew 
our  baptismal  vows,  that  we  may  obtain  the  fruits 
of  that  salvation.  When,  in  the  holy  Sacrifice,  the 
priest  takes  the  Victim  of  salvation  into  his  hand, 
and  says:  "Ecce  Agnus  Dei;  ecce  Qui  tollii  precata 
mundi" — "Behold  the  Lamb  of  God;  behold  Him 
Wljo  taketh  away  the  sins  of  the  world:"  let  us 
renounce,  once  more  Satan,  with  all  his  works  and 
pomps ;  and  with  ardent  faith,  hope  and  love,  join  with 
the  Church  in  her  supplication :  "Misere  nobis;  dona 
nobis  pacem:"  "Have  mercy  onus;  give  us  peace." 
For  this,  my  brethren,  is  what  we  most  need,  the 
divine  compassion,  and  peace.  The  first  condition  re- 
quired for  obtaining  the  divine  compassion  is'to  recog- 
nize that  we  stand  in  need  of  it;  that  we  should  assist 


II  SUNDAY  AFTER  EPIPHANY        243 

at  the  holy  Mysteries  with  profound  humility  and 
compunction  of  heart,  with  a  conviction  of  our  own 
nothingness  and  unworthiness,  of  our  helplessness, 
and  dependence  on  divine  grace  to  enable  us  to  fight 
that  good  fight,  which  every  Christian  must  wage 
and  win,  before  he  can  obtain  the  crown.  (II  Tim. 
IV;  7.)  When,  therefore,  the  I/amb  of  God  is  im- 
molated for  us,  let  us  strike  our  breasts  with  true 
compunction  of  heart,  and  thereby  call  down  upon 
ourselves  the  divine  compassion;  and  so  prepare 
ourselves  for  the  reception  of  that  peace  which  the 
Incarnate  Word  came  to  bestow  on  us.  This  is  the 
first  and  last  word  of  that  Christmas  festival  which 
we  are  this  day  concluding:  "Peace  on  earth  to  men 
of  good  will."  (Luke  II;  14.)  Before  we  take  leave 
of  the  divine  Infant,  let  us.  ask  Him  to  give  us  that 
peace,  the  peace  which  surpasseth  all  understanding, 
which  may  keep  our  hearts  and  minds  in  Christ 
Jesus,  (Phil.  IV;  7.) 

SECOND  SUNDAY  AFTER  EPIPHANY. 

(From  the  Gospel.) 

"The  mother  of  Jesus  saith  to  Him:  they  have  no 
wine."  (John  II;  3.) 

The  evangelist  tells  us  that  this  was  the  first  mir- 
acle which  Jesus  wrought;  and  that  the  effect  of  it 
was  to  cause  His  disciples  to  believe  in  Him.  Those 
disciples  were  at  present  five  in  number.  Our  Lord 
was  just  about  to  commence  His  public  mission.  He 
had  left  the  retirement  of  the  house  of  Nazareth, 
had  gone  to  the  river  Jordan,  where  John  was  bap- 


244  SERMONS  FOR  THE  YEAR 

tizing;  had  been  baptized  by  him;  had  been  pro- 
claimed by  a  voice  from  heaven  as  the  Son  of  God, 
and  pointed  out  by  John  as  the  Saviour  of  the  world. 
Then  Peter  and  Andrew,  James  and  John  attached 
themselves  to  Him  as  His  disciples,  and  another, 
whose  name  is  not  mentioned ;  but  who  was  probably 
Philip.  With  these  five  disciples,  our  Lord  set  out 
on  His  return  to  Galilee.  Arriving  there,  He  finds 
that  a  marriage  is  about  to  be  celebrated  in  the  vi- 
cinity of  His  home;  and,  probably,  the  parties  to  this 
marriage  were  of  the  members  of  His  Mother's  kin- 
dred, for  she  had  promised  to  assist  at  the  ceremony; 
whilst  Jesus  Himself  and  His  disciples  were  also 
invited.  Our  Lord  accepted  the  invitation,  and  as- 
sisted at  the  wedding.  We  have  heard  in  the  gospel 
what  took  place.  Now,  as  none  of  these  incidents 
happened  by  accident,  but  were  all  preordained  by 
God,  it  is  our  duty  to  meditate  upon  them  and  strive 
to  learn  what  these  things  signify. 

Firstly,  we  discover  here  a  manifest  indication  of 
our  divine  Lord's  purpose  to  raise  the  contract  of  mar- 
riage, under  the  new  dispensation  which  He  came  to 
establish,  to  the  dignity  of  a  Christian  Sacrament. 
He  had  just  sanctified  the  waters  of  baptism,  by  sub- 
mitting to  be  baptized  Himself,  though  He  needed 
it  not.  As  St.  John  put  it,  who  said:  "I  ought  to  be 
baptized  by  Thee ;  and  comest  Thou  to  me  ? "  (Matth. 
Ill;  14.)  And  now,  our  Lord  sanctifies  the  state  of 
matrimony,  by  assisting  at  the  marriage  of  Cana  in 
Galilee.  It  also  teaches  us  that  all  the  affairs  of  life 
ought  to  be  guided  and  directed  by  the  divine  assist- 


II  SUNDAY  AFTER  EPIPHANY        245 

ance,  even  our  convivial  gatherings.  If  we  took 
this  precaution  of  obtaining  the  presence  of  Jesus 
and  Mary,  at  our  festivities,  they  would  not  be  tar- 
nished by  the  excesses  which  too  often  characterize 
them.  We  may  be  sure,  that  at  this  marriage-feast 
of  Cana,  where  Jesus  and  Mary  were  present,  the 
pure  and  innocent  joy  of  the  festival  was  not  marred 
by  anything  that  could  offend  modesty,  or  purity, 
or  sobriety,  or  charity,  or  tranquility.  Our  Lord 
does  not  forbid  amusement  and  cheerful  mirth.  He 
will  even  take  part  in  them  with  us,  provided  they 
are  reasonable,  and  kept  within  the  just  bounds  of 
moderation. 

Let  us  now  consider  the  miracle  which  was  wrought 
on  this  occasion.  In  the  first  place,  we  observe 
that  it  was  wrought  at  the  intercession  of  the  Mother 
of  God;  and  that  Our  Lord  was  induced,  at  her  en- 
treaty, even  to  anticipate  the  time  of  the  public 
manifestation  of  His  divine  power.  Our  Lady,  with 
that  quiet  and  observant  penetration  which  char- 
acterizes Spiritual  persons,  noticed  the  want  which 
had  arisen,  and  the  embarrassment  of  their  hosts. 
No  sooner  had  she  observed  this,  than  she  quickly 
whispered  to  her  Son  what  she  had  observed;  an 
intimation  which  was  equivalent  to  a  request  that 
He  would  relieve  them  from  their  difficulty.  What 
makes  this  request  more  remarkable,  is  that  it  does 
not  appear  that  Our  Lady  had  had  any  previous 
experience  of  her  divine  Son's  miraculous  power. 
Indeed,  the  evangelist  distinctly  asserts  that  this 
was  the  beginning  of  His  miracles. 


246  SERMONS  FOR  THE  YEAR 

The  same  watchful  solicitude  is  even  now  exerted 
by  our  blessed  Lady  on  our  behalf.  She  always  has 
her  eyes  open  to  all  our  wants,  and  is  always  solici- 
tous to  plead  for  us;  even  when  we  are  ignorant  of 
what  is  being  done  for  us,  as  were  the  two  spouses 
of  what  was  being  done  for  them.  From  how  many 
dangers,  of  which  we  knew  nothing,  and  which, 
therefore,  we  did  not  fear,  have  we  not  been  preserved 
by  her  maternal  solicitude?  How  many  graces  and 
blessings  has  she  not  obtained  for  us;  graces  perhaps, 
which,  however  much  we  needed  them,  we  were 
either  too  timid  or  too  indolent  to  ask  for?  She 
intercedes  with  her  divine  Son  on  our  behalf,  even 
before  she  is  asked;  how  much  more  will  she  do  so, 
when  we  address  ourselves  to  her  to  implore  her 
assistance?  So  confident  is  she  of  the  success  of  her 
intercession,  that,  notwithstanding  her  Son's  ap- 
parently unfavorable  answer,  she  at  once  gives  direc- 
tions to  the  domestics  in  anticipation  of  His  consent. 

It  is  well  known  what  stress  has  been  laid  on  our 
Lord's  reply  to  His  blessed  mother,  by  Protestant 
controversialists,  with  a  view  of  disparaging  devo- 
tion to  the  blessed  Virgin.  "Woman,  what  is  it  to 
Me  and  to  thee?  mine  hour  has  not  yet  come."  Let 
us,  then,  see  to  what  sort  of  argument  the  exigencies 
of  controversy  have  driven  these  fanatics.  They 
begin  by  mistranslating  the  passage:  "What  have  I 
to  do  with  thee?"  And  on  this  mistranslation,  they 
build  this  strange  argument ;  we  are  not  called  on  to 
honour  one  to  whom  our  Lord  spoke  so  slightingly. 
Their  argument,  then,  comes  to  this:  that  our  Lord, 


II  SUNDAY  AFTER  EPIPHANY    '    247 

Who  is  the  author  of  the  fourth  Commandment,  set 
the  example  of  breaking  his  own  Commandment,  by 
being  wanting  in  love  and  reverence  and  obedience 
to  His  Own  Mother.  For,  if  the  argument  does  not 
imply  this,  it  means  nothing  at  all.  What,  then, 
are  we  to  think  of  a  view  which  is  based  on  such  an 
argument  ?  It  only  needs  to  be  stated,  to  be  confuted 
by  its  manifest  absurdity. 

To  return  now  to  our  blessed  Lady.  Let  us  con- 
sider what  confidence  we  ought  to  have  in  her  inter- 
cession, from  her  action  on  this  occasion.  'Lest  we 
should  think  that  there  is  any  grace  or  favour  which 
we  dare  not  ask  of  her,  let  us  observe  what  sort  of 
favour  she  asks  of  her  divine  Son,  unsolicited.  It 
is  this :  that  He  should,  for  the  first  time,  work  a  stu- 
pendous miracle;  and  that,  not  in  order  to  restore  to 
life  the  only  son  of  a  desolate  widow;  nor  to  relieve 
any  poor  creature  from  a  life  of  pain  and  misery;  but 
to  obtain  an  object  which  seems  altogether  dispro- 
portionate to  such  an  exercise  of  divine  power;  the 
mere  relief  of  a  temporary  embarrassment,  arising 
from  a  scarcity  of  wine.  But  Mary  asks,  and  so  she 
obtains.  Can  she  fail  to  obtain,  think  you,  when  she 
asks,  on  our  behalf,  for  those  graces  which  are  re- 
quired for  our  eternal  salvation?  Those  impious 
men,  who  seek  to  depreciate  the  mother  of  God,  must 
be  blind  indeed,  not  to  see  how  this  miracle  justifies 
the  position  which  the  Catholic  Church  has  always 
assigned  her  in  the  dispensation  of  salvation.  For, 
it  is  manifest,  first,  that  it  was  at  Mary's  request,  or 
rather  demand,  that  our  Lord  wrought  His  first 


248  SERMONS  FOR  THE  YEAR 

public  miracle;  secondly,  that  it  was  in  considera- 
tion for  her,  that  our  Lord  consented  to  anticipate 
the  time  of  His  public  manifestation;  thirdly,  that  it 
was  through  her,  that  the  glory  of  her  Son  became 
known,  that  men  came  to  believe  in  Him,  and  that 
His  disciples  were  confirmed  in  their  faith.  Now, 
what  other  occupation  and  position  has  the  Church 
ever  assigned  to  her  but  this,  that  through  her  inter- 
cession, through  her  incessant  watchfulness  and 
solicitude  on  our  behalf,  we  may  all  be  brought  to 
the  knowledge  and  love  of  her  divine  Son,  our  Saviour 
and  our  God? 

Lastly,  let  us  consider  the  nature  of  this  miracle 
in  itself.  This  first  of  our  Lord's  miracles  bears  a 
striking  analogy,  which  cannot  be  accidental,  to  His 
last  miracle,  when  He  converted  bread  and  wine  into 
His  Own  Flesh  and  Blood.  Thesame  divine  Omnip- 
otence is  as  manifest  in  one  miracle  as  in  the  other. 
Hence,  what  greater  inconsistency  can  there  be,  than 
to  doubt  one  whilst  we  believe  the  other?  Whilst 
therefore,  we  find  our  faith  confirmed  by  this  miracle, 
as  was  the  faith  of  our  Lord's  disciples,  our  faith, 
that  is,  in  His  divine  origin  and  mission;  let  it  also 
confirm  us  in  Hope  and  Charity.  In  Hope,  that  He, 
Who  exercised  His  Omnipotence  on  behalf  of  those 
who  entertained  Him,  will  exert  His  divine  power 
on  our  behalf;  so  that  when  the  necessaries  of  our 
Spiritual  life  fail,  He  may,  by  His  Omnipotent  Word, 
convert  the  poverty  of  our  nature,  the  simple  ele- 
ments of  this  world,  into  the  richest  treasures  of  His 
supernatural  grace.  Let  it  also  confirm  us  in  Divine 


II  SUNDAY  AFTER  EPIPHANY        249 

Charity  which  is  especially  signified  by  the  wine: 
that  He  may  change  the  feeble  elements  of  our  nature, 
our  human  weakness,  into  the  noble  and  generous  wine 
of  His  Charity;  that  He,  Whose  bounty  made  Him 
so  solicitous  to  provide  for  the  wants  of  His  creatures, 
may  be  the  source  of  all  our  happiness;  the  object 
of  all  our  love,  as  He  alone  is  deserving  of  our  love. 
And  that  He  may  accomplish  these  great  things 
in  us,  let  us  make  a  feast  in  the  chamber  of  our  heart ; 
to  that  feast  let  Jesus  and  Mary  be  invited;  and  let 
it  be  a  marriage-feast,  to  celebrate  the  union  which 
He  graciously  enters  into  with  all  who  receive  Him 
in  the  August  Sacrament  of  the  altar;  in  which  takes 
place  the  union  of  God  the  Son  with  His  brethren 
according  to  the  Flesh.  "He  that  eateth  Me,  the 
same  shall  live  by  Me."  "Blessed  is  he,"  saith  one 
in  the  gospel:  "that  shall  eat  bread  in  the  Kingdom 
of  God."  (Luke  XIV;  15.)  How  blessed  shall  he 
not  be,  who  shall  eat  the  living  Bread,  which 
cometh  down  from  heaven,  and  giveth  life  to  the 
world.  "He  that  eateth  this  Bread  shall  live 
forever."  (John  VI;  51,  52.) 

SECOND  SUNDAY  AFTER  EPIPHANY. 

(From  the  Gospel.) 

"Let  love  be  without  dissimilation;  hating  that  which 
is  evil,  cleaving  to  that  which  is  good.  Loving  one 
another  with  the  charity  of  brotherhood." 

In  the  lesson  of  the  holy  Mass  of  this  Sunday,  the 
apostle  lays  down  certain  rules  of  conduct  which  are 
eminently  practical  and  useful  for  every  one.  For, 


250  SERMONS  FOR  THE  YEAR 

unquestionably,  it  is  through  the  neglect  of  these 
rules  that  our  lives  are  as  imperfect  as  they  are,  and 
that  we  are  continually  falling  into  those  sins  and 
imperfections  which  hinder  our  spiritual  progress. 
Let  us,  then,  consider  his  exhortation,  and  apply  it 
to  ourselves,  that  we  may  amend  what  we  find  amiss 
in  our  own  conduct.  The  first  part  of  the  exhorta- 
tion, it  is  true,  does  not  apply  to  the  present  day. 
For  it  is  meant  for  the  early  days  of  the  Church, 
when  the  Spirit  of  God  was  poured  forth  abundantly 
on  all  the  faithful;  as,  for  example,  the  gift  of  pro- 
phecy— a  gift  which,  while  it  has  never  been  wholly 
withdrawn  from  the  Church,  is  nevertheless  an  extra- 
ordinary one;  whereas,  in  apostolic  times  it  was 
quite  an  ordinary  gift,  bestowed  by  God  in  order  to 
assist  in  the  rapid  propagation  of  the  gospel  through- 
out the  unbelieving  world.  Again,  when  he  exhorts 
those  who  have  received  the  gift  of  ministry,  or  of 
teaching,  to  use  well  the  gift  which  they  possess,  this 
exhortation  evidently  does  not  apply  to  the  body  of 
the  faithful,  whose  place  it  is,  not  to  minister,  but  to 
be  ministered  unto;  nor  to  teach,  but  to  be  taught. 
But  in  the  following  verses  every  one  may  find  salu- 
tary rules  of  conduct,  suitable  to  his  own  case. 

Thus,  everyone  is  bound  to  use  the  gift  he  has  re- 
ceived in  exhorting  his  neighbour.  This  is  the  duty 
of  fraternal  correction;  an  essential  duty  from  which 
no  one  is  exempt.  I/et  us,  then,  consider  the  nature 
of  this  duty,  on  the  proper  discharge  of  which  we 
shall  have,  each  and  all,  to  give  an  account  at  the 
day  of  judgment.  It  is  the  duty  of  every  Christian, 


II  SUNDAY  AFTER  EPIPHANY        251 

because  it  falls  under  the  general  law  of  charity. 
The  second  great  Commandment  of  the  law  is,  to 
love  our  neighbour  as  ourselves;  a  Commandment 
immediately  dependent  on  the  first,  which  is  to  love 
God  above  all  things.  (Matth.  XXII;  38,  39.) 
No  one  can  fulfil  the  first,  without  also  fulfilling  the 
second.  It  is  easy  enough  to  say  that  we  love  God; 
it  is  not  so  easy  to  deceive  ourselves  with  respect  to 
our  neighbour.  Hence,  the  apostle  lays  this  down  as  a 
test,  whereby  we  may  know  whether  we  love  God. 
For  how,  he  asks,  can  we  love  God,  Whom  we  do  not 
see,  if  we  do  not  love  our  neighbour,  whom  we  do 
see?  (I  John  IV;  20.)  To  love  our  neighbour  as 
ourselves,  means  that  we  should  wish  him  the  same 
good,  spiritual  and  temporal,  as  we  wish  ourselves. 
Consequently,  when  we  see  our  neighbour  overtaken 
in  any  fault,  it  becomes  our  duty  to  admonish  him; 
and  to  do  what  lies  in  our  power  to  bring  him  to  a 
sense  of  his  duty.  Ecclesiasticus  says :  "Admonish 
thy  friend,  for  there  is  often  a  fault  committed.'' 
(Eccl.  XIX;  15.)  This  duty  also  forms  the  subject 
of  one  of  our  Lord's  maxims:  "If  thy  brother  shall 
offend  against  thee,  go  and  rebuke  him,  between 
thee  and  him  alone.  If  he  shall  hear  thee,  thou  shall 
gain  thy  brother."  (Matth.  XVIII;  15.) 

But  though  fraternal  correction  be  a  duty  which 
is  binding  on  everyone,  yet  it  is  a  duty  which  de- 
mands much  circumspection  and  prudence;  without 
which,  indeed,  that  correction  which  should  be  a 
work  of  charity  may,  in  reality,  become  a  manifes- 
tation of  uncharitable  spleen;  so  that  instead  of 


252  SERMONS  FOR  THE  YEAR 

fulfilling  the  law  of  charity,  we  should,  in  fact,  be 
transgressing  the  law.  Many  conditions,  then,  are 
required  in  order  that  this  duty  may  be  properly 
discharged.  It  is  essentially  a  duty  of  charity. 
Hence,  it  must  spring  from  a  motive  of  charity;  and 
it  must  be  exercised  in  a  charitable  manner,  and  for 
a  charitable  end.  Those,  therefore,  who  take  upon 
themselves  to  correct  then:  neighbours,  not  out  of 
love  for  them,  but  in  order  to  gratify  some  spiteful, 
jealous  or  angry  feeling;  so  far  from  doing  a  work  of 
charity,  are  really  committing  a  sin  against  charity. 
It  is  the  more  necessary  to  mention  this,  as  we  are 
so  apt  to  delude  ourselves,  and  to  imagine  that  we 
are  only  doing  our  duty,  when  we  are,  in  reality, 
only  gratifying  our  vindictive  and  sinful  passions. 
So  common,  indeed,  is  this  fault,  that  I  might  al- 
most say  that  true  fraternal  correction  is  well-nigh 
neglected  altogether,  and  in  its  place  is  substituted 
the  vice  of  uncharitable  reproof. 

Again,  not  only  must  the  correction  spring  from 
a  motive  of  charity,  but  it  must  be  exercised  in  a 
charitable  manner.  No  doubt,  if  our  motive  be 
pure,  our  execution  of  this  duty  will  be  faultless. 
But  we  may  easily  deceive  ourselves  as  to  our 
motive;  whilst  it  is  not  so  easy  to  disguise  the  un- 
charitable character  of  our  reproof,  which  is  some- 
thing external.  Hence,  our  manner  of  discharging 
this  duty  is  an  excellent  test  of  the  motive  which 
prompts  us.  It  should  be  done,  then,  with  the  ut- 
most kindness  and  moderation,  without  harshness 
or  violence,  or  any  assumption  of  superiority.  We 


II  SUNDAY  AFTER  EPIPHANY        253 

must  show,  by  our  voice  and  demeanour,  that  we  are 
seeking  solely  our  neighbour's  spiritual  good,  and 
that  compassion  for  his  infirmity,  which  sinful 
creatures  like  ourselves  should  always  show  towards 
an  erring  brother. 

Again,  the  correction  must  be  for  a  charitable 
end,  namely,  our  neighbour's  spiritual  good.  Hence, 
they  do  not  discharge  this  duty  well,  who  reprove 
their  neighbour  with  a  view  to  exasperate  him,  or 
to  triumph  over  him,  or  in  any  way  to  hurt  his 
feelings.  But  we  ought  simply  to  use  such  influence 
as  we  possess,  to  bring  him  to  an  acknowledgment 
of  his  fault,  and  to  a  purpose  of  amendment.  The 
mode  in  which  this  duty  should  be  discharged  has 
been  taught  us  by  our  Lord  Himself.  Whenever, 
therefore,  we  are  called  upon  to  exercise  fraternal 
correction,  let  us  carefully  bear  in  mind  the  rules 
which  our  divine  Lord  prescribes;  that  our  correc- 
tion, being  aided  by  divine  grace,  may  prove  profit- 
able both  to  our  neighbour  and  to  ourselves.  He 
says  then :  "If  Thy  brother  shall  offend  against  thee, 
go  and  rebuke  him  between  thee  and  him  alone. 
If  he  shall  hear  thee,  thou  shalt  gain  thy  brother." 
(Matth.  XVIII;  15.)  By  which  words  our  Lord 
teaches  us  that  we  should  spare  our  brother's  feel- 
ings, even  when  he  has  offended  us,  as  much  as  pos- 
sible, by  making  the  correction  in  private.  Further, 
we  are  taught  that  the  one  object  of  our  correction 
should  be,  not  to  salve  our  own  wounded  feelings, 
but  simply  to  gain  our  brother — to  promote  his 
spiritual  good.  Lastly,  these  words  teach  us  that 


254  SERMONS  FOR  THE  YEAR 

he  whom  we  admonish,  however  much  he  may  have 
offended,  and  whether  we  succeed  in  gaining  him  or 
not,  is  still  and  always  our  brother. 

From  what  has  been  said  as  to  the  mode  in  which 
fraternal  correction  should  be  exercised,  it  follows 
that  there  are  some,  and  indeed  many,  occasions  on 
which  it  should  not  even  be  attempted.  Those, 
for  example,  who  entertain  any  spite  or  ill-feeling 
against  any  one,  should  not  venture  to  administer 
this  correction,  as  this  would  only  result  in  exposing 
them  to  the  occasion  of  sin.  Our  first  duty  in  such 
a  case  is  to  correct  ourselves  by  laying  aside  this 
animosity  and  resentment,  which  render  us  incapable 
of  discharging  this  duty  properly;  first,  let  us  pull 
the  beam  out  of  our  own  eye,  and  then  we  shall  be 
better  able  to  discern  the  mote  in  our  brother's 
eye.  (Matth.  VII;  3,  5.)  Again,  there  are  some 
who  will  not  brook  correction;  the  more  they  are 
admonished,  the  more  obstinate  and  perverse  do 
they  become.  In  such  a  case  as  this,  prudence  dic- 
tates that  we  should  abstain  from  that  correction 
which,  instead  of  benefitting  our  neighbour,  would 
only  increase  the  evil.  Moreover,  in  discharging 
this  duty,  the  time  and  place  and  opportunity  must 
be  discreetly  chosen.  For  the  correction,  which 
might  be  profitable  at  one  time,  and  under  some 
circumstances,  might  at  another  time,  and  under 
other  circumstances,  prove  prejudicial. 

I  hope,  my  dear  brethren,  that  what  I  have  said 
will  not  lead  you  to  suppose  that  it  is  better  to  leave 
this  matter  alone,  and  not  concern  ourselves  about 


II  SUNDAY  AFTER  EPIPHANY      255 

our  neighbour.  This  would  be  a  very  wrong  con- 
clusion to  come  to.  We  are  bound,  always  and 
under  all  circumstances,  to  concern  ourselves  about 
our  neighbour.  No  one  lives  for  himself  alone.  (Rom. 
XIV;  7.)  Whether  we  correct  our  neighbour  or 
abstain  from  correcting  him,  it  is  always  out  of 
concern  for  his  welfare  that  we  should  shape  our 
conduct.  As  we  said  in  the  beginning,  fraternal 
charity  is  an  essential  duty,  binding  on  every  one 
at  all  times;  a  duty,  moreover,  which  we  should  be 
careful  to  discharge  hi  a  Christian  and  charitable 
spirit.  "None  of  us  liveth  to  himself,"  says  the 
apostle,  "and  no  man  dieth  to  himself."  (Rom. 
XIV.  7.)  If,  through  our  neglect,  our  brother  per- 
severes in  sin,  when  a  kind  word  of  admonition  from 
us  might  have  brought  him  to  a  sense  of  duty,  what 
answer  shall  we  make  when  God  shall  require  his 
blood  at  our  hands?  On  the  other  hand,  if  by  our 
charitable  efforts,  we  induce  our  brother  to  forsake 
his  evil  ways  and  to  return  to  his  duty,  then  we  shall 
not  only  have  gained  oui  brother,  (and  be  instrumen- 
tal in  saving  his  soul,  but  we  shall  also  obtain  from 
God  a  title  to  those  efficacious  graces  which  will 
secure  our  own  salvation,  and  a  bright  crown  in 
heaven.  For  "they  that  instruct  others  unto  jus- 
tice shall  shine  as  stars  for  all  eternity."  (Dan. 
XII;  3.) 


256  SERMONS  FOR  THE  YEAR 

SECOND   SUNDAY  AFTER  EPIPHANY. 

(Most  Holy  Name  of  Jesus.     From  the  Gospel.) 

"His  Name  was  called  Jesus."     (Luke  II;  21.) 

The  names  which  men  give  to  their  children  are 
generally  given  to  them  arbitrarily,  without  any 
rational  motive;  capriciously,  from  some  whim  or 
fancy;  ostentatiously,  from  pride  or  conceit,  or 
mercenarily,  from  some  interested  motive.  It  is 
not  so  with  God,  whose  ways  are  not  our  ways. 
The  Name  of  God  is  holy.  The  Names  by  which  He 
has  been  pleased  to  make  Himself  known  to  us  are 
revelations  of  His  Own  divine  attributes;  and  are, 
therefore,  holy  as  God  Himself  is  holy.  The  Names 
which  have  been  thus  revealed  to  us  are  manifold. 
For  we  cannot  comprehend  the  idea  of  God  in  all 
Its  infinitude;  hence,  no  one  Name  can  convey  to  us 
an  adequate  idea  of  God's  perfections;  nor,  indeed, 
can  all  of  them  collectively  do  so.  But  they,  each 
of  them,  help  to  fill  up  our  necessarily  inadequate 
conception  of  the  divine  Nature.  This  revelation 
began  with  the  very  beginning  of  the  world,  and 
was  continued  through  the  succession  of  patriarchs, 
prophets  and  inspired  men  of  God,  until  it  was  com- 
pleted by  the  coming  of  our  Lord. 

Thus,  His  Omnipotence  was  manifested  when  He 
appeared  to  Abraham  and  said:  "I  am  the  Al- 
mighty God."  (Gen.  XVII;  1.)  His  Providence, 
when  He  said:  "Is  this  the  return  thou  makest  to 
the  Lord,  O  foolish  and  senseless  people!  Is  not 
He  thy  Father  that  hath  possessed  thee  and  made 


II  SUNDAY  AFTER  EPIPHANY        257 

thee  and  created  thee?"  (Deut.XXXII;6.)  Again, 
to  His  servant,  Moses,  was  revealed  that  most  awful 
Name  which  the  Jews  never  dared  to  pronounce  with 
their  lips,  and  which  signifies  the  absolute,  eternal 
and  self -existent  Being  of  God  in  those  words, 
"God  said  to  Moses:  'I  am  Who  am.'  He  said: 
'Thus  shalt  thou  say  to  the  children  of  Israel:  He 
Who  is  hath  sent  me  to  you.'  "  (Exod.  III;14.) 
Thus  implying  that  God  alone  exists  of  Himself; 
and  that  all  other  things  have  their  existence  from 
Him.  Again,  Abraham  invoked  the  Name  of  the 
Lord  God  eternal.  (Gen.  XXI;  33.)  His  Omnis- 
cience was  made  known  to  the  prophet  Jeremiah: 
"I  am  the  Lord,  Who  search  the  heart  and  prove  the 
reins."  (Jer.  XVII;  10.)  His  sanctity  to  the 
prophet  Isaiah:  "Holy,  holy,  holy,  the  Lord  God  of 
hosts."  (Is.  VI;  3.)  The  Name  of  Lord  or  Master 
was  revealed  to  Moses  in  these  words :  "I  am  Adonai, 
the  Lord,  that  appeared  to  Abraham,  to  Isaac  and 
to  Jacob  by  the  Name  of  God  Almighty;  and  My 
Name,  Adonai,  I  did  not  show  them."  (Exod.  VI ;  3.) 
The  unity  of  the  divine  nature  is  proclaimed  hi  the 
passage:  "Hear,  O  Israel,  the  Lord  our  God  is  one 
Lord."  (Deut.  VI;  4.)  These'  various  attributes 
are  summed  up  in  the  beginning  of  the  prayer  of 
Nehemias:  "O  Lord  God,  Creator  of  all  things, 
dreadful  and  strong,  just  and  merciful,  who  alone 
art  the  good  King,  who  alone  art  gracious,  who  alone 
art  just,  and  almighty,  and  eternal."  (2  Mace.  I; 
24.)  Before  the  coming  of  our  Lord  and  the  pro- 
mulgation of  the  law  of  grace,  it  was  the  more  awful 


258  SERMONS  FOR  THE  YEAR 

attributes  of  God  which  were  chiefly  manifested  to 
men.  Hence,  it  was  only  in  prophetic  vision  that 
Habacuc  cried  out:  "I  will  joy  in  God,  my  Jesus." 
(Hab.  Ill;  18.)  Thus,  in  the  words  of  St.  Paul: 
"God,  Who  at  sundry  times  and  in  divers  manners, 
spoke  in  times  past  to  the  fathers  by  the  prophets, 
last  of  all  in  these  days  hath  spoken  to  us  by  His 
Son."  (Heb.  I;  1.)  The  eternal  Word,  Who  is  in 
the  Bosom  of  the  Father,  hath  Himself  declared  it 
unto  us  in  the  Person  of  the  Word  Incarnate.  (John 

I;  18.) 

In  this  Holy  Name,  therefore,  which  He  bears, 
are  revealed  to  us  all  the  infinite  mercy  and  tender- 
ness of  God,  and  His  yearnings  for  our  salvation.1 
For  His  Name  signifies  His  office;  and  since  in  com- 
ing amongst  us,  He  chose  to  be  called  our  Saviour 
and  not  our  Judge;  therefore,  He  will,  indeed,  be 
our  Saviour;  and  we  need  not  fear  His  judgment. 
But  unhappily,  not  every  one  calls  upon  that  holy 
Name.  Indeed,  few,  very  few,  are  there  who  truly 
relish  the  sweetness  of  this  holy  Name;  whilst  over- 
whelming is  the  number  of  those  who,  by  neglecting 
to  call  upon  this  Name,  shall  find  at  the  great  ac- 
counting day,  not  a  merciful  Saviour,  but  a  stern 
and  unrelenting  Judge.  What  is  it,  then,  to  call 
upon  this  Name;  and  what  is  it  not  to  call  upon  it? 
for  on  this  our  eternal  salvation  depends.  Our 
blessed  Lord  has  Himself  explained  the  matter  to 
us:  "Not  every  one,"  He  says,  "who  saith  to  Me, 
Lord,  Lord,  shall  enter  the  Kingdom  of  Heaven; 
but  he  that  doth  the  Will  of  My  Father  Who  is  in 


II  SUNDAY  AFTER  EPIPHANY        259 

heaven,  he  shall  enter  the  Kingdom  of  Heaven." 
(Matth.  VII;  21.)  We  call  upon  His  Name,  then, 
effectually,  by  doing  His  Will.  Now,  "this  is  the 
Will  of  God,  your  sanctification."  (I  Thess.  IV; 
3.)  The  Name  Jesus  signifies  Saviour.  "For," 
said  the  angel  to  St.  Joseph,  "He  shall  save  His  people 
from  their  sins."  (Matth.  I;  21.)  And  yet,  but 
forty  days  after  His  Birth,  Simeon  prophesies  that 
this  Child  is  set  for  the  resurrection  and  the  fall  of 
many  in  Israel,  and  for  a  sign  that  shall  be  contra- 
dicted. (Luke  II;  34.)  Who  are  they  who  contra- 
dict the  sign  of  the  holy  Name  of  Jesus?  There  are 
many  ways  of  contradicting  it. 

First,  there  are  those  who  obstinately  reject,  or 
contumaciously  refuse  to  listen  to  the  teaching  of 
the  holy  Catholic  Church;  and  who,  blaspheming 
that  which  they  know  not,  perish  in  their  unbelief. 
But  besides  these,  my  brethren,  there  are  many, 
even  within  the  fold  of  the  Church,  who,  while  they 
profess  the  faith  of  that  Church  with  their  lips, 
contradict  it  by  their  lives.  For  such  as  these,  a 
still  more  terrible  retribution  is  in  store;  because  by 
their  evil  lives,  by  their  neglect  and  indifference, 
they,  in  reality,  blaspheme  that  which  they  know 
by  faith.  But  though  we  may  flatter  ourselves  that 
we  do  not  belong  to  either  of  these  two  categories; 
though  we  may  not  be  unbelievers;  nor  our  lives  a 
scandal  to  the  faith  which  we  profess;  yet  it  may 
well  happen  that  we  do  not  call  upon  that  holy  Name 
as  earnestly  and  as  efficaciously  as  we  might  and 
ought.  Let  us  examine  ourselves  a  little  on  this 


260  SERMONS  FOR  THE  YEAR 

point.  To  call  upon  the  Name  of  Jesus,  is  to  make 
diligent  use  of  all  those  means  of  salvation  whereby 
He  is  become  a  Jesus,  a  Saviour,  unto  us.  What  are 
those  means?  They  are  the  holy  sacrifice  of  the 
Mass,  and  the  Sacraments. 

In  the  holy  Mass  the  Name  of  Jesus  is  hallowed, 
according  to  that  petition  of  the  Lord's  Prayer: 
hallowed  be  Thy  Name.  (Matth.  VI;  9.)  For 
when  this  great  sacrifice  was  revealed  to  the  prophet 
Malachy,  he  thus  speaks  of  it:  "from  the  rising  of 
the  sun  even  to  the  going  down,  My  Name  is  great 
among  the  gentiles."  And  how  is  His  Name  magni- 
fied ?  He  continues :  "in  every  place  there  is  sacrifice, 
and  there  is  offered  to  My  Name,  a  clean  oblation." 
(Mai.  1;II.)  We  may,  therefore,,  estimate  our  zeal 
and  love  for  this  holy  Name,  by  the  fervour  and 
earnestness  with  which  we  assist  at  holy  Mass.  By 
the  sacrifice  of  the  Mass,  we  render  to  God  homage 
and  worship  which  are  worthy  of  Him,  by  reason  of 
the  priceless  Victim  Who  is  there  offered.  Hence, 
it  is  by  the  holy  Mass  that  the  Name  of  God  is  chiefly 
honoured  and  hallowed  upon  earth.  By  the  holy 
Mass,  we  render  God  adequate  thanks  for  all  His 
manifold  benefits  to  us,  for  we  offer  One  Whose 
infinite  worth  infinitely  outweighs  all  our  obliga- 
tions. "What  shall  I  render  to  the  Lord  for  all  that 
He  hath  given  to  me?  I  will  take  the  chalice  of 
salvation,  and  I  will  call  upon  the  Name  of  the 
Lord."  (Ps.  CXV;  13.)  By  the  holy  Mass  we 
make  ample  atonement  for  all  our  sins,  for  we  offer 
Him  Who  is  made  a  propitiation  for  our  sins;  and 


II  SUNDAY  AFTER  EPIPHANY        261 

not  for  ours  only,  but  also  for  those  of  the  whole 
world."  (I  John  II;  2.)  By  the  holy  Mass,  we 
obtain  from  God's  Mercy  all  those  graces  and  bless- 
ings which  we  stand  in  need  of  to  work  out  our  sal- 
vation; for  in  the  holy  Mass,  He  is  given  to  us,  Who 
is  Lord  of  all  things — and  "He  that  spared  not  even 
His  Own  Son,  but  delivered  Him  up  for  us  all,  how 
hath  He  not  also,  with  Him,  given  us  all  things?" 
(Rom.  VIII;  32.) 

Again,  my  dear  brethren,  we  show  our  zeal  and 
love  for  this  holy  Name,  by  our  diligence  and  fervour 
in  frequenting  the  holy  sacraments;  especially  those 
two  which  are  necessary  for  the  daily  sustenance  of 
our  spiritual  life — Penance  and  the  holy  Eucharist. 
For,  by  these  sacraments,  we  receive  into  our  souls 
those  precious  streams  of  grace,  which  flow  from  the 
sacred  Wounds  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ;  from  that 
inexhaustible  fountain  of  grace  and  life,  His  sacred 
Heart.  "In  that  day,  there  shall  be  a  fountain  open 
to  the  house  of  David,  and  to  the  inhabitants  of 
Jerusalem,  for  the  washing  of  the  sinner  and  of  the 
unclean."  (Zach.  XIII;  1.)  This  fountain  is  the 
salutary  bath  of  holy  penance.  Another  prophet 
says :  "And  it  shall  come  to  pass  in  that  day  that  the 
mountains  shall  drop  down  sweetness,  and  the  hills 
shall  flow  with  milk,  and  waters  shall  flow  through 
all  the  rivers  of  Juda,  and  a  fountain  shall  come  forth 
of  the  house  of  the  Lord,  and  shall  water  the  torrent 
of  thorns."  (Joel  III;  18.)  This  fountain  which 
waters  the  barrenness  of  our  sinful  clay,  and  which 
converts  the  thorny  waste  of  our  hearts  into  a  garden 


262  SERMONS  FOR  THE  YEAR 

of  delight,  making  us  the  sweet  odour  of  Christ  in 
every  place,  is  the  blessed  Sacrament  of  the  Body 
and  Blood  of  Christ.  (II  Cor.  II;  15.)  Oh!  then,  let 
us  invoke  the  sweet  name  of  Jesus  unceasingly,  not 
with  our  lips  merely,  but  from  our  hearts,  and  strive 
to  fathom  the  depths  of  consolation,  contained  in 
that  holy  Name.  Let  it  rise  to  your  lips  in  all  your 
temptations,  in  all  your  troubles,  in  all  your  weari- 
ness and  pain.  It  will  be  your  safeguard,  your  con- 
solation, your  relief,  and  your  strength.  Replenish 
your  souls  with  the  graces  of  which  the  holy  Name  of 
Jesus  is  a  sign  and  surety,  in  the  holy  sacraments. 
Glorify  that  Name  by  your  good  example,  that  the 
Name  of  Jesus  may  no  longer  be  blasphemed,  but 
blessed  forever. 

Believe  in,  hope  in,  love  that  holy  Name,  until  the 
blessed  day  shall  come,  whereof  it  is  written:  "And 
it  shall  come  to  pass  that  every  one  that  shall  call 
upon  the  Name  of  the  Lord  shall  be  saved."  (Joel 
II;  32.) 

SECOND  SUNDAY  AFTER  EPIPHANY. 

(From  the  Lesson.) 

" For  there  is  no  other  Name  under  heaven,  given  to 
men,  whereby  we  must  be  saved."  (Acts  IV;  12.) 

Such,  my  dear  brethren,  is  the  power  and  efficacy 
of  the  holy  Name  of  Jesus.  Whilst  our  Lord  was 
upon  the  earth,  we  are  told  that  He  went  about  doing 
good,  healing  the  sick,  and  curing  all  manner  of 
diseases.  But  this  power  did  not  cease  with  His 


II  SUNDAY  AFTER  EPIPHANY        263 

ascension  into  heaven.  As  He  Himself  had  foretold, 
His  faithful  followers  worked  the  like  miracles,  and 
even  greater  miracles  than  He  had  wrought;  and  by 
what  means?  By  the  invocation,  as  St.  Peter  points 
out,  of  the  holy  Name  of  Him  from  Whom  they  re- 
ceived their  divine  Commission.  But  the  working 
of  such  miracles,  as  had  for  their  effect  the  relief  of 
the  temporal  maladies  which  afflict  our  suffering 
humanity,  was  certainly  not  the  chief  object  of  His 
and  their  mission.  He  came  to  save  the  souls  of 
men;  and,  to  save  souls,  was  the  end  of  the  Commis- 
sion which  He  gave  to  His  apostles.  The  miracles, 
then,  which  they  wrought  for  the  relief  of  corporal 
afflictions  were  intended  as  proofs  and  symbols  of 
their  power  and  authority  to  minister  to  the  spiritual 
necessities  of  mankind ;  to  the  healing  of  their  spiritual 
maladies.  Hence,  we  are  to  conclude  that,  in  the  great 
work  of  the  sanctification  and  salvation  of  the  souls 
of  men,  everything  is  accomplished  in  the  Name  of 
our  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  Nor  is  there  salvation  in  any 
other;  for,  there  is  no  other  name  under  heaven,  given 
to  men,  whereby  we  must  be  saved.  In  order,  then, 
that  we  may  rightly  reverence  this  holy  Name,  and 
be  moved  to  a  thorough  conviction  of  its  power  and 
efficacy  in  the  cause  of  our  salvation,  let  us  consider 
what  wonderful  works  have  been  wrought  in  our  own 
persons,  through  the  Name  of  Jesus  of  Nazareth. 

Scarcely  had  we  entered  into  this  world,  than  we 
were  carried  to  the  sacred  font  of  Baptism,  and  there 
baptized  in  the  Name  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  And 
the  power  of  that  Name,  which  was  thus  invoked 


264  SERMONS  FOR  THE  YEAR 

over  us,  was  able  to  expel  from  our  souls  the  enemy 
of  God  and  man,  who,  hitherto,  had  held  undisputed 
possession  of  them.  The  power  of  that  holy  Name 
entered  into  the  baptismal  water,  and  gave  it  efficacy 
to  infuse  into  our  souls  the  priceless  gift  of  sanctifying 
grace,  to  make  us  members  of  Christ's  Body,  and 
heirs  of  His  glorious  Kingdom.  It  purified  and  sanc- 
tified the  soul,  and  made  it  the  temple  of  God  the 
Holy  Ghost,  and  so  made  it  partaker  of  all  those  gifts 
and  graces,  which  the  Holy  Spirit  pours  out  in  the 
soul  that  He  inhabits.  In  fine,  it  gave  us  a  title  to  be 
called  by  that  holy  Name  Itself,  for,  by  that  sacra- 
ment, we  become  Christians;  and  a  Christian  is,  as 
one  of  the  Fathers  observes,  another  Christ. 

Again,  when  we  had  grown  in  years  and  under- 
standing, we  were  summoned  once  more  to  have  that 
thrice  holy  Name  invoked  upon  us,  when  we  knelt 
before  the  bishop  to  be  confirmed.  The  effect  of  that 
invocation  was  to  infuse  into  our  souls  the  Holy  Spirit, 
the  Third  Person  of  the  most  holy  Trinity,  with  His 
sevenfold  gifts.  It,  moreover,  stamped  the  soul  with 
an  indelible  seal,  which  is  no  other  than  this  holy 
Name,  whereby  we  might  be  recognized  as  the 
chosen  champions  of  the  faith  of  Jesus  Christ,  as  His 
true  and  trusty  followers;  a  seal  by  which  the  angels 
might  recognize  us  as  their  companions;  a  seal  which 
should  render  us  an  object  of  terror  to  the  demons. 

But,  unhappily,  my  dear  brethren,  all  these  great 
and  glorious  gifts,  which  we  have  received  in  the 
Name  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  may  be  squandered 
and  lost  by  our  own  wilful  act,  by  mortal  sin.  When 


II  SUNDAY  AFTER  EPIPHANY        265 

sin  enters  the  soul,  the  grace  of  God  departs,  for  the 
two  cannot  exist  together.  But,  even  then,  the  effi- 
cacy of  this  holy  Name  is  not  exhausted;  such  is  the 
infinite  Goodness  of  our  loving  Saviour.  When, 
then,  we  had  the  misfortune  to  abuse  the  gifts  of 
God,  to  offend  Him  by  mortal  Sin,  and,  consequently, 
to  lose  His  friendship  and  all  claims  to  our  heavenly 
inheritance;  even  then,  the  holy  Name  of  Jesus  re- 
tained Its  primitive  signification,  and  was  able  to 
restore  even  the  dead  to  life  again.  Prostrate,  then, 
in  the  tribunal  of  penance,  after  humble  confession 
of  our  sin,  and  sincere  contrition,  we  felt  that,  when 
that  holy  Name  was  invoked  upon  us,  the  load  of  our 
sin  was  lifted  from  our  guilty  breasts,  and  we  went 
away  with  a  peaceful  conscience,  absolved  from  our 
sins,  in  the  Name  of  Him  of  Whom  it  was  said:  "Be- 
hold the  I/amb  of  God,  behold  Him  Who  taketh  away 
the  sin  of  the  world."  (John  I;  29.) 

Yet  again,  in  order  to  sustain  and  nourish  and 
strengthen  our  weary  souls  in  this  life's  pilgrimage, 
we  have  been  provided  with  a  heavenly  manna,  to  be 
our  food  and  nourishment;  which  is  given  to  our  souls 
without  stint,  and  which  contains  in  itself  the  sweet- 
ness of  every  taste,  according  to  our  dispositions. 
Without  this  supernatural  support,  it  is  manifest  that 
our  soul  would  become  weak  and  languid,  and  fall  an 
easy  prey  to  the  many  enemies  that  surround  us,  and 
the  temptations  which  beset  us  on  every  side.  This 
heavenly  food  is  no  other  than  the  Body  and  Blood 
of  Him  Who  is  the  Bread  of  Life,  Who  gave  Himself 
for  the  life  of  the  world.  "I  am  come,"  He  says, 


266  SERMONS  FOR  THE  YEAR 

"that  they  may  have  life,  and  may  have  it  more 
abundantly."  (John  X;  10.)  How,  my  brethren, 
is  this  great  mystery  accomplished?  By  the  invoca- 
tion of  the  most  holy  Name  of  Jesus.  When  the 
priest  holds  in  his  hands  and  consecrates  the  Euchar- 
istic  elements,  he  does  not  say:  'this  is  the  Body  of 
Christ;'  but,  'this  is  My  Body,'  and  'this  is  My  Blood.' 
Because  he,  however  unworthy,  is  still  the  represen- 
tative of  Him  Who  works  this  stupendous  miracle  in 
the  power  of  His  Own  most  holy  Name.  What, 
then,  shall  we,  my  dear  brethren,  do,  but  approach 
that  holy  table,  with  humble  fear  and  loving  confi- 
dence, and,  with  the  Psalmist,  take  the  chalice  of 
salvation;  and  call  upon  the  Name  of  the  Lord." 
(Ps.  CXV;  13.) 

Moreover,  is  any  one  sick  among  you,  what  does 
he  do,  but  call  in  the  priests  of  the  Church ;  who  pray 
over  him,  anointing  him  with  ouV  in  the  Name  of  the 
Lord;  and  what  is  the  effect  of  that  prayer  and  of  that 
unction  in  the  Name  of  the  Lord?  We  are  told  that 
"the  prayer  of  faith  shall  save  the  sick  man,  and  the 
Lord  shall  raise  him  up,  and  if  he  be  in  sins,  they  shall 
be  forgiven  him."  (James  V;  14,  15.) 

These  are  all  mighty  works,  my  dear  brethren;  and 
each  and  all  of  them  we  either  have  already  exper- 
ienced, or  may  yet  experience,  in  our  own  persons. 
But,  besides  these  more  important  instances  of  the 
efficacy  of  the  holy  Name,  there  are  many  others 
which  we  may  experience  every  day^and,  indeed, 
every  hour  of  the  day.  For,  are  we  not  commanded 
always  to  pray?  (I  Thess.  V;  17.)  And  are  not 


II  SUNDAY  AFTER  EPIPHANY        267 

those  prayers  uttered  in  the  Name  of  our  Lord  Jesus 
Christ?  Such  is  the  form  which  the  Church  uses  in 
her  sacred  liturgy,  in  that  divine  office  which  is  re- 
cited daily  by  her  sacred  ministers;  and  which  ought 
to  be  the  model  on  which  we  frame  our  prayers.  We 
may  truly  say  that,  from  this  holy  Name,  well  forth 
all  those  fountains  of  grace,  which  refresh  the  soul  in 
its  weary  pilgrimage  through  the  world.  So  that  it 
may  be  truly  said  of  every  Christian,  who  rightly  ap- 
preciates and  diligently  avails  himself  of  the  power 
and  efficacy  of  this  holy  Name;  "he  shall  drink  of  the 
torrent  in  the  way;  therefore,  shall  he  lift  up  the 
head."  (Ps.  CIX;  7.) 

The  invocation  of  this  holy  Name  is  also  an  omnip- 
otent defence  against  all  the  fiery  darts  of  the  most 
wicked  one.  (Eph.  VI;  16.)  We  read  in  the  holy 
gospels  how  the  mere  invocation  of  the  holy  Name 
of  Jesus  was  able  to  put  to  flight  whole  legions  of 
devils.  And  the  power  of  that  Name  is  as  great  now 
as  then.  There  is  no  temptation,  however  over- 
whelming it  may  seem,  which  we  may  not  victor- 
iously overcome,  by  invoking  humbly,  fervently  and 
confidently  this  holy  Name.  For,  He  Himself  has 
promised  it.  "Call  upon  Me,"  He  says,  "in  the  day 
of  trouble,  and  I  will  deliver  thee."  (Ps.  XLIX;  15.) 

Let  the  solemnity,  then,  which  we  are  this  day 
celebrating,  strengthen  your  faith  in  this  holy  Name. 
Let  it  confirm  your  hope  and  confidence.  Let  it 
inflame  your  love  for  that  blessed  Name.  For,  is  it 
not  the  sweetest  of  all  the  Names  by  which  God  has 
made  Himself  known  to  us?  Many  are  the  Names 


268  SERMONS  FOR  THE  YEAR 

of  the  Godhead,  full  of  power  and  majesty,  and  cal- 
culated to  inspire  us' poor  sinful  creatures  with  fear 
and  awe;  but  the  Name  of  Jesus,  Saviour,  is  a  Name 
of  love,  of  consolation,  of  hope,  of  tenderness,  not 
only  to  the  just,  but  also  to  sinners.  When  the 
mystery  of  the  Incarnation  was  announced  by  the 
angel,  he  said:  "Thou  shalt  call  His  Name  Jesus, 
because  He  shall  save  His  people  from  their  sins." 
(Matth.  I;  21.)  In  taking  this  holy  Name,  He  as- 
sumed to  Himself  the  office  signified  by  the  Name: 
that  of  Saviour  of  the  world.  "I  came  not  to  judge 
the  world,  but  to  save  the  world."  (John  XII;  47.) 
And  yet,  my  brethren,  the  day  will  come,  when  He 
will  judge  the  world.  Then  He  will  no  longer  be  a 
Saviour,  but  a  stern  and  inexorable  Judge.  Now, 
therefore,  whilst  it  is  time,  call  upon  this  holy  Name, 
and  invoke  It,  not  in  that  way  which  He  has  Himself 
condemned,  when  He  said:  "not  every  one  that  says, 
Lord,  I/ord,  shall  enter  into  the  Kingdom  of  heaven ; 
(Matth.  VII;  21)  but  by  doing  His  holy  Will,  and 
keeping  His  commandments;  by  frequenting  those 
holy  sacraments,  by  which  the  graces,  signified  by 
their  holy  Name,  are  bestowed  upon  us;  by  pouring 
forth  our  prayers,  through  the  merits  of  this  Name, 
and  by  invoking  It  in  time  of  temptation  and  trial. 
If,  my  brethren,  you  invoke  this  holy  Name  in  the 
way  that  has  been  pointed  out  to  you,  you  will,  un- 
doubtedly, realize,  in  your  own  persons,  the  truth  of 
what  has  been  written:  "It  shall  appear  in  that  day, 
that  whosoever  shall  call  upon  the  Name  of  the 
Ivord,  shall  be  saved."  (Joel  II;  32.) 


269 
THIRD  SUNDAY  AFTER  EPIPHANY. 

(Prom  the  Gospel.) 

''Behold,  a  leper  came  and  adored  Him,  saying. 
'Lord,  if  Thou  wilt,  Thou  canst  make  me  clean.'  And 
Jesus,  stretching  forth  his  hand,  touched  him,  say- 
ing: '/  will,  be  thou  made  clean;'  and  forthwith  his 
leprosy  was  cleansed."  (Matt.  VIII;  2-3.) 

The  healing  of  the  leper,  which  is  recorded  in  this 
day's  gospel,  is  a  figure  of  that  divine  power  which 
is  exercised  in  the  sacrament  of  penance,  by  which 
the  sinner  is  healed  of  the  spiritual  leprosy  of  sin. 
Indeed  there  is  a  close  analogy  between  sin,  which 
is  a  malady  of  the  soul,  and  leprosy,  which  is  a 
malady  of  the  body.  Leprosy  is  a  loathsome  dis- 
ease, which  rendered  those  who  were  afflicted  with 
it  objects  of  terror  and  disgust  to  themselves  and 
others.  And  so,  mortal  sin  renders  the  soul  loath- 
some and  hideous  in  the  sight  of  God  and  His  angels. 
As  there  is  no  more  beautiful  object  than  a  soul  in 
grace,  so  there  is  nothing  so  hideous  and  foul  as  a 
soul  in  sin.  Again,  leprosy  is  contagious;  it  is  com- 
municated to  those  who  come  in  contact  with  the 
leper;  and  so  it  is  with  sin.  Wheresoever  the  sinner 
goes,  he  carries  with  him  the  pestilential  contagion 
of  his  sin.  His  looks,  his  words,  his  actions,  his 
whole  life,  spread  the  poison  of  his  leprosy  around, 
and  infect  all  who  come  within  the  influence  of  his 
bad  example.  In  this  way  is  sin  multiplied  in  the 
world.  Let  us  enter  into  ourselves  and  see  if  we 
have  not  some  reason  to  accuse  ourselves  in  this 
respect. 


270  SERMONS  FOR  THE  YEAR 

For,  just  as  there  was  leprosy  and  leprosy,  and  all 
cases  were  not  of  equal  malignity;  so  it  is  with  sin. 
Though  we  may  not  be  guilty  of  the  more  scandalous 
vices,  yet  we  ma)',  in  many  ways,  by  minor  trans- 
gressions, suffer  from  this  leprosy  ourselves,  and 
be  a  cause  of  disedification  to  others — for  example, 
by  our  worldliness,  our  want  of  Christian  modesty, 
our  sensuality,  our  impateince,  our  uncharitable- 
ness,  our  neglect  of  religious  duties,  and  so  forth. 
All  these  and  other  similar  faults,  are  a  leprosy  of 
the  soul;  and  we  cannot  be  guilty  of  them  without 
imparting  them  to  others  and  increasing  the  evil  in 
ourselves.  By  the  law  of  Moses,  the  leper  was 
separated  from  the  society  of  his  fellow-creatures. 
On  the  same  principle  those  who  are  afflicted  with 
the  leprosy  of  sin  ought  to  avoid  the  society  and 
conversation  of  the  world.  Do  we  not  find,  in  fact, 
that  as  often  as  we  seek  the  society  of  others  we 
demoralize  others,  and  are  ourselves  demoralized, 
by  the  mutual  exhibition  of  our  wonted  failings. 
Why,  even  the  pagan  philosopher,  Seneca,  was  con- 
scious of  this,  that  he  never  went  into  the  company 
of  his  fellowmen  without  returning  ashamed  of 
himself. 

What,  then,  are  we  to  do,  when  we  find  ourselves 
afflicted  with  the  leprosy  of  sin?  We  must  imitate 
the  example  of  the  leper  in  the  Gospel.  We  must 
turn  our  eyes  towards  our  divine  I/ord;  for  all  our 
endeavours  will  be  in  vain  unless  we  are  assisted  by 
His  grace.  We  must  have  recourse  to  Him  Who 
came  purposely  to  heal  all  our  diseases.  He  has 


Ill  SUNDAY  AFTER  EPIPHANY       271 

instituted  a  sacrament  of  reconciliation,  that  of 
penance,  in  which  the  sinner  is  bathed  in  His  pre- 
cious Blood  and  is  thereby  cleansed  from  all  his 
uncleanness.  He  has,  moreover,  established  His 
court  in  the  tabernacle  of  the  altar  where  He  always 
abides,  ready  to  hear  our  prayers,  when  we  come  to 
pour  forth  our  miseries  before  Him,  and  to  supplicate 
His  Mercy.  But  when  we  come,  let  us  come  in  the 
spirit  of  the  poor  leper,  who  knelt  down  and  adored 
our  Lord.  Do  we,  indeed,  show  by  our  demeanour, 
that  we  feel  we  are  in  the  presence  of  One  Who  is 
able  to  heal  all  our  infirmities?  Are  we  covered 
with  confusion  at  the  thought  of  our  own  unworthi- 
ness  to  appear  hi  His  presence?  Do  we  come  with 
the  single  intention  of  imploring  His  Mercy  and 
Grace?  Do  we  spend  our  time  in  entreating  Him  to 
stretch  forth  His  hand  and  heal  our  soul?  Such 
ought  to  be  our  sentiments;  our  prayer  should  be  like 
that  of  the  leper;  brief  but  fervent;  "Lord,  if  Thou 
wilt,  Thou  canst  make  me  clean." 

Let  us  consider  the  admirable  qualities  of  this 
prayer.  It  was  full  of  faith  in  our  Lord's  divine 
power;  that  He  could  do  whatsoever  He  pleased. 
And  so,  however  numerous  and  inveterate  may  be 
our  sins,  let  us  pray  with  unbounded  trust  in  the 
power  of  Jesus  to  pardon  us,  and  to  heal  all  our 
diseases.  It  was  full  of  confidence  hi  our  Lord's 
Goodness;  that  He  would  grant  his  request.  And 
so  we  should  pray  with  unwavering  confidence, 
knowing  that  we  are  praying  to  one  Who  is  more 
desirious  to  give  that  we  can  be  to  receive.  It  was 


272  SERMONS  FOR  THE  YEAR 

for  this  cause  that  He  came  into  this  world,  that 
He  might  save  His  people  from  their  sins.  (Matt. 
I;  21.)  It  was  full  of  humility;  conscious  of  his  own 
deformity  and  loathsomeness,  he  was  covered  with 
confusion  and  shame.  But  this  only  attracted  the 
more  the  loving  compassion  of  our  Lord;  and  if  we 
wish  our  prayers  to  be  efficacious,  let  us  not  forget 
this  most  essential  requisite,  that  they  should  be 
humble.  For  "the  prayer  of  him  that  humbleth 
himself  shall  pierce  the  clouds;  and  it  shall  not 
depart  until  the  Most  High  behold."  It  was^full  of 
submission  to  Our  lord's  Will.  The  leper  knew 
that  he  had  no  claim  save  upon  the  compassion  of 
our  Lord;  so  ought  we,  when  we  pray,  to  submit 
ourselves  wholly  to  His  Will  and  ask  Him  to  do 
with  us  as  He  pleases. 

That  we  may  be  encouraged  to  seek  deliverance 
in  this  way  from  our  leprosy,  let  us  next  consider 
in  what  way  our  Lord  received  the  leper.  For  it  is 
a  type  of  the  manner  in  which  our  Lord  receives 
every  sinner  who  returns  to  Him.  He  shows  no 
repugnance  at  the  sight  of  the  miserable  man. 
But  on  the  contrary,  He  receives  him  with  the  most 
tender  and  loving  compassion.  And  so  it  is  in  the 
Sacrament  of  penance.  The  sinner  who  approaches, 
provided  only  he  show  signs  of  real  sorrow  and  re- 
pentance, need  never  fear  to  meet  with  harshness 
or  disgust  from  the  minister  of  Christ,  however  great 
and  loathsome  may  be  his  sins.  In  fact,  the  more 
hideous  the  leprosy,  where  there  is  also  an  earnest 
desire  to  be  healed,  the  more  tender  compassion  will 


Ill  SUNDAY  AFTER  EPIPHANY      273 

he  meet  with  at  His  Hands.  "And  Jesus,  stretching 
forth  His  Hand,  touched  him."  Yes,  my  brethren, 
our  Lord  did  not  disdain  to  place  His  pure  Hands 
on  that  infected  flesh.  And  so  He  is  ever  ready  to 
stretch  forth  His  Hand  and  touch  our  infected 
souls,  and  straightway  they  will  be  healed.  O, 
almighty  and  all  healing  Hand !  When  that  invisible 
power  is  invoked  by  the  uplifted  hand  of  the  priest 
who  pronounces  the  words  of  absolution,  do  we 
feel  the  same  sentiments  of  joy  and  gratitude  with 
which  the  leper  received  his  health?  And  yet  it  is 
a  far  greater  miracle  of  divine  omnipotence  to  heal 
the  leprosy  of  the  soul  than  that  of  the  body.  O, 
may  we  henceforth  value  this  great  blessing  and 
profit  by  it  as  we  ought.  May  we  resolve  to  seek 
our  blessed  Lord  to  obtain  from  Him  the  healing 
of  our  soul's  maladies!  We  shall  not  seek  in  vain. 
We  know  that  our  Lord  wills  it.  "I  will;  be  thou 
made  clean."  All  that  is  required  of  us  is,  that  we 
should  seek  Him  and  implore  His  mercy  in  that 
manner  and  with  those  dispositions  which  have 
been  pointed  out  to  you. 

Let  us  now,  in  conclusion,  consider  the  words 
which  our  Lord  addressed  to  the  leper  after  he  was 
healed.  "See  thou  tell  no  man,  but  go  show  thyself 
to  the  priest;  and  offer  the  gift  which  Moses  com- 
manded, for  a  testimony  to  them."  The  Kingdom 
of  God  cometh  not  with  observation,  said  our  divine 
Lord  on  one  occasion.  (Luke  XVII;  20.)  It  is 
in  silence  and  retirement  that  the  gentle  inspirations 
of  the  Holy  Ghost  makes  themselves  heard  and  felt 


274  SERMONS  FOR  THE  YEAR 

in  the  soul.  And  it  is  in  silence  and  retirement  that 
the  work  of  conversion  must  be  accomplished  in  the 
soul,  and  bring  forth  its  fruits  of  holiness  and  per- 
fection. What  is  the  reason  why  so  many  who 
have  been  touched  by  God's  grace,  and  have  been 
cleansed  from  their  sinful  leprosy,  so  soon  after- 
wards relapse  into  their  former  state;  their  latter 
state  often,  indeed,  becoming  worse  than  the  former? 
The  reason  is,  because  they  so  easily  resign  them- 
selves to  a  natural  reaction,  which  takes  place  after 
the  spiritual  exercises  to  which  they  have  submitted 
themselves.  Nature  is  ever  struggling  against  grace, 
and  the  violent  efforts  they  have  made  to  secure  the 
triumph  of  grace  provokes  a  reaction.  The  victory 
is  won;  the  soul  is  healed  of  its  infirmities.  They 
are  at  peace  with  God;  and  they  think  they  may 
now  rest  secure,  and  fall  back  into  their  old  ways — 
their  former  conversation.  My  brethren,  as  long  as 
we  are  in  the  body  we  are  never  secure;  we  must 
always  be  on  our  guard;  and  especially,  must  we 
shun  all  tendency  to  relapse  into  that  worldly  con- 
versation, which  is  sure  to  revive  hi  us  all  our  evil 
habits  and  inclinations;  and  will  end  by  infecting  us 
once  more  with  its  fatal  contagion.  When  once 
we  have  been  delivered  from  the  leprosy  of  sin,  let  us 
strive  to  preserve  the  purity  of  our  soul  unsullied 
by  sin.  To  that  end  let  us  shun,  as  much  as  possible, 
the  commerce  of  this  world;  for  "this  is  religion, 
pure  and  undefiled,  to  keep  oneself  unspotted  from 
this  world."  (James  I;  27.) 

us  also  offer  the  gift  which  has  been  com- 


Ill  SUNDAY  AFTER  EPIPHANY       275 

manded  us — that  most  precious  Gift  of  God,  the 
Gift  of  His  Own  beloved  Son,  Who  gives  Himself  to 
us  in  the  most  holy  sacrament  of  the  altar,  and 
Whom  we  in  turn,  offer  to  the  eternal  Father,  as  a 
worthy  propitiation  for  our  sins;  (I  John  II;  2)  as 
a  guarantee  and  pledge  of  that  eternal  life  which  is 
promised  to  the  clean  of  heart.  "Blessed  are  the 
clean  of  heart,  for  they  shall  see  God."  (Matt.  V;  8.) 


THIRD  SUNDAY  AFTER  EPIPHANY. 

(From  the  Lesson.) 

"Be  not  overcome  by  evil,  but  overcome  evil  by 
good."  (Rom.  XII;  21.) 

The  duty  of  forgiveness  of  injuries,  and  generally, 
of  charity  towards  our  enemies,  is  one  of  the  most 
distinctive  duties  of  the  Christian  religion.  It  is, 
indeed,  the  infallible  test  of  a  true  Christian.  "By 
this  shall  all  men  know  that  you  are  My  disciples, 
if  you  have  love  one  for  another."  (John  XIII;  35.) 
No  wonder,  therefore,  that  the  devil  tries  to  per- 
suade us  that  the  fulfilment  of  this  duty  is  impossi- 
ble. No  doubt,  it  is  very  difficult,  and  if  you  will, 
impossible  to  flesh  and  blood.  But  then,  in  the 
Spiritual  combat,  we  must  not  trust  to  the  arm  of 
flesh;  otherwise  we  shall  certainly  be  overcome; 
but  we  fight  with  Spiritual  weapons.  Our  armour 
and  our  arms  are  to  be  sought  from  above;  they  are 
to  be  obtained  in  those  manifold  means  of  grace  with 
which  God  has  furnished  us,  if  we  will  only  seek  for 
them.  So  that  as  the  great  Bishop  of  Hippo  has 


276  SERMONS  FOR  THE  YEAR 

observed:  "that  which  we  think  far  removed  from 
our  reach  is  really  on  our  threshold,  if  we  will  only 
look  for  it."  Our  divine  Lord,  Who  is  our  great 
exemplar,  loved  His  enemies.  For  whilst  He  was 
hanging  on  the  cross,  He  said :  "Father,  forgive  them, 
for  they  know  not  what  they  do."  His  divine  ex- 
ample was  faithfully  imitated  by  St.  Stephen,  who, 
when  they  were  overwhelming  him  with  stones, 
cried  out:  "Lord,  lay  not  this  sin  to  their  charge." 
Thereby  proving  that  the  disciple  is  able  to  do  what 
the  Master  had  done,  by  the  grace  which  that  Master 
is  ready  to  bestow  upon  him.  Now,  we  have  all 
received  the  same  grace,  and  we  are  expected,  nay 
bound,  to  follow  the  same  example.  How  efficacious 
that  prayer  of  St.  Stephen's  was,  we  may  conclude 
from  the  wonderful  conversion  of  Saul,  who  was  one 
of  those  consenting  to  Stephen's  death.  Now  this 
great  apostle,  in  his  turn,  enforced  the  great  lesson 
of  which  he  himself  furnished  such  a  striking  illus- 
tration, as  you  have  heard  in  the  epistle  which  has 
just  been  read  to  you.  And  in  another  place  he 
says:  "I  desire,  therefore,  first  of  all,  that  supplica- 
tions, prayers,  intercessions  and  thanksgivings  be 
made  for  all  men;  for  kings  and  for  all  that  are  in 
high  stations."  (I  Tim.  II;  1,  2.)  Now,  who  were 
these  kings,  and  what  sort  of  men  were  these  magis- 
trates, on  whose  behalf  the  apostle  exhorted  the 
Christians  to  make  continual  intercession?  They 
were  the  bitterest  enemies  of  the  Christian  name. 
They  were,  at  that  very  moment,  persecuting  the 
Christians  even  to  death. 


Ill  SUNDAY  AFTER  EPIPHANY       277 

Our  divine  Lord  tells  us,  that  all  religion  turns 
upon  the  observance  of  two  precepts:  "Thou  shalt 
love  the  Lord  thy  God  with  thy  whole  heart,  with 
thy  whole  soul,  and  with  all  thy  mind;  and  thou 
shalt  love  thy  neighbor  as  thyself."  That  all,  with- 
out exception,  even  our  bitterest  enemies,  are  in- 
cluded under  the  term  of  'our  neighbour,'  whom  we 
are  bound  to  love  as  ourself,  is  proved  by  the  ex- 
press declaration  of  our  Lord,  to  whom  this  question 
was  put,  and  answered  by  Him  in  such  a  way  as  to 
show  that  no  one  whatever  is  to  be  excluded  from 
our  love,  whoever  he  may  be,  or  whatever  he  may 
have  done  against  us.  For  who  are  they  whom  we 
call  our  enemies?  God  alone  knows  what  are  their 
real  dispositions;  for  He  alone  knows  what  is  in 
man.  "Man  seeth  those  things  that  appear,  but  the 
Lord  beholdeth  the  heart."  (I  Kings  XVI;  7.) 
Moreover,  our  opinions  are  invariably  tinged  and 
coloured  by  prejudice,  by  passion,  by  an  exaggerated 
sense  of  our  own  importance;  so  that  we  are  in- 
capable of  taking  an  impartial  view  of  the  state  of 
another's  feelings  towards  us. 

Again,  the  patience  of  God  brings  the  greatest  sin- 
ners to  repentance.  Who  knows  that  the  greatest 
malefactor  may  not  follow  the  calls  of  divine  grace, 
until  he  obtains  pardon ;  and  when  pardon  is  granted 
by  God,  to  Whom  the  offence  done  is  infinitely  greater 
than  any  injury  we  can  suffer,  shall  we  dare  to  har- 
bour resentment?  If  God,  Who  knows  who  these 
are  who  will  persevere  in  sin,  and  who  will  fall  away 
from  grace,  and  die  in  their  sin,  nevertheless,  maketh 


278  SERMONS  FOR  THE  YEAR 

His  sun  to  rise  upon  the  good  and  bad,  and  raineth 
upon  the  just  and  the  unjust;  (Matth.  V;  45)  at  the 
same  time  inviting  all  to  repent,  by  His  marvelous 
patience  with  them;  how  ready  and  easy  ought  to  be 
our  forgiveness,  who,  for  aught  we  know  to  the  con 
trary,  whilst  we  harbour  enmity  against  our  off  ending 
neighbour,  may  be  hating  one  with  whom  we  have 
been  called  to  reign  in  eternal  happiness.  Is  this  the 
way  to  prepare  ourselves  for  the  life  we  hope  to  spend 
in  heaven?  To  begin  by  hating  those,  with  whom  we 
hope  to  be  eternally  associated  hereafter  in  the 
bonds  of  divine  charity? 

This,  indeed,  is  the  meaning  of  the  precept.  We 
are  not  told  to  love  our  enemies,  because  it  is  a  good 
thing  for  them  to  persecute  us;  nor  because  it  is  right 
for  them  to  do  so ;  but,  it  is  in  order  that  we  may  gain 
our  brother;  that  we  may  overcome  evil  by  good; 
converting  the  evil  into  good.  This  is  the  apostle's 
meaning,  when  he  says:  "If  thy  enemy  be  hungry, 
give  him  to  eat;  if  he  thirst,  give  him  to  drink;  for 
doing  this  thou  shall  heap  coals  of  fire  upon  his  head." 
(Rom.  XII;  20.)  What  are  these  coals  of  fire  but 
the  smart  of  compunction  and  the  flames  of  regret, 
which  will  altogether  consume  his  enmity  and  malice, 
when  he  finds,  that  instead  of  resenting  his  injuries, 
we  have  heaped  favours  upon  him?  Whilst,  on  the 
other  hand,  if  our  forgiveness  does  not  produce  this 
effect  it  will,  indeed,  be  upon  his  head  as  coals  of  fire, 
adding  fuel  to  the  inextinguishable  flames  of  wrath, 
with  which  God  punishes  the  vindictive  and  unfor- 
giving. 


Ill  SUNDAY  AFTER  EPIPHANY       279 

"Do  good,  then,  to  them  that  hate  you;  and  pray 
for  them  that  persecute  and  calumniate  you."  (Matth. 
V;  44.)  In  our  inmost  heart,  we  should  love  such  a 
one,  grieve  over  his  misfortunes,  rejoice  in  his  welfare, 
and  wish  him  well.  We  should  do  him  all  the  good 
we  can,  help  him,  defend  him,  act  kindly  towards 
him.  We  should  take  his  part;  never  complain  of 
his  injustice  towards  us;  speak  to  him  with  kind- 
ness and  affection;  pray  for  him,  for  his  spiritual 
and  temporal  welfare.  We  need  not  be  very  par- 
ticular about  praying  for  his  conversion  especially, 
as  some  are  fond  of  doing;  thinking  they  are  thereby 
fulfilling  the  precept  of  charity,  whereas,  they  are 
only  feeding  their  own  animosity,  in  supposing  that 
their  enemy  needs  conversion,  whereas,  it  may  very 
well  happen  that  we  have  much  more  need  of  it  than 
he.  For  nothing  is  more  common  than  to  be  wholly 
deluded  as  to  the  real  state  of  the  case,  in  matters  of 
this  kind.  If  only  we  would  put  in  practice  these 
simple  gospel  precepts,  we  should  then  hear  no  more 
of  enmities  and  their  sad  consequences.  They  would 
become  impossible,  as  a  fire  is  impossible,  unless  there 
be  fuel  to  feed  it. 

It  is  only  in  this  way,  our  divine  Lord  tells  us,  that 
we  can  become  the  true  children  of  our  Father  in 
heaven.  He  has  loved  us,  when  as  yet  we  were  His 
enemies.  He  has  sent  His  only-begotten  Son  to  die 
for  us  who]  had  offended  Him.  He  is  ready  to  take 
us  to  His  forgiveness  as  often  as  we  offend  Him. 
Shall  we,  then,  dare  to  say  it  is  not  in  our  power, 
with  the  help  of  His  grace,  to  forgive  those  whom 


280  SERMONS  FOR  THE  YEAR 

we  imagine,  often  without  any  solid  grounds,  to 
have  offended  us?  It  is,  indeed,  a  shameful  thing 
to  hear  Christians  say:  "I  cannot  put  up  with  this  or 
that — this  is  more  than  human  nature  can  bear." 
In  other  words,  we  are  ready  to  love  those  whom  we 
like,  who  make  themselves  agreeable  to  us;  but  no 
one  else.  Now,  our  Lord  has  anticipated  this  state 
of  things.  He  says :  "If  you  love  them  that  love  you, 
what  reward  shall  you  have?  Do  not  even  the  publi- 
cans this?  And  if  you  salute  your  brethren  only, 
what  do  you  more?  Do  not  also  the  heathens  this?" 
(Matth.  V;  46.)  If  we  wish,  then,  to  be  something 
better  than  the  heathen,  we  must  try  to  do  something 
more  than  love  those  only  that  love  us,  and  salute 
those  who  are  attached  to  us  by  friendly  ties.  If 
we  wish  to  exercise  true  charity,  a  charity  deserving 
of  our  eternal  recompense,  it  must  be  exercised,  not 
for  the  gratification  of  self-love  and  our  own  inclina- 
tons,  but  it  must  be  a  victory  achieved  over  our- 
selves; and  the  more  repugnant  to  our  nature  the 
object  of  our  charity  may  be,  the  more  meritorious 
will  our  charity  become. 

"Be  you,  therefore,  perfect,  as  also  your  heavenly 
Father  is  perfect. ' '  (Matt. V ;  48. )  We  may  easily  delude 
ourselves  by  imagining  that  we  are  advancing  in  per- 
fection by  multiplying  our  prayers,  by  frequenting 
the  holy  sacraments,  by  assisting  at  the  offices  of  the 
Church,  by  making  great  sacrifices,  by  practicing 
great  mortifications,  or  giving  great  alms.  But,  in 
one  thing,  there  can  be  no  delusion :  in  the  love  of  our 
enemies,  the  true,  heartfelt,  effectual  love  of  those 


IV  SUNDAY    AFTER  EPIPHANY      281 

who  have  injured  us,  or  seek  to  do  so.  This  is  true 
religion;  this  proves  us  to  be  true  children  of  our 
heavenly  Father;  this  will  entitle  us  to  a  share  in  the 
never-ending  joy  of  the  Kingdom  of  His  Love. 


FOURTH    SUNDAY    AFTER    EPIPHANY. 

(From  the  Gospel.) 

" Lord,  save  us;  we  perish!"     (Matt.  VIII;  25.) 

There  are,  I  suppose,  but  few  persons  who  have 
not,  at  some  time  or  other  in  their  lives,  had  occasion 
to  utter  these  words,  or  have  not  felt  that  kind  of 
emotion  which  prompted  their  utterance  in  the  dis- 
ciples of  Christ.  It  is  in  the  time  of  misfortune, 
of  some  sudden  calamity  that  has  overtaken  us,  that 
we  begin  to  feel  our  own  weakness  and  helplessness. 
It  is  then  that  we  begin  to  realize,  that  there  is  a  God 
Who  controls  this  nether  world,  and  that  we  turn  to 
Him,  as  our  only  resourse,  to  avert  the  threatened 
danger.  Hence,  calamities  such  as  these,  whilst  they 
are  sometimes  visitations  of  God's  Justice,  in  punish- 
ment of  our  sins,  are,  still  oftener,  visitations  of  His 
Mercy,  for  the  correction  of  our  lives,  by  compelling 
us  to  have  recourse  to  Him,  Whom  we  are  too  apt  to 
forget  in  the  days  of  tranquility.  I  wish  to  ask  you, 
then,  to  meditate  on  this  great  truth.  I  call  it  a 
great  truth,  because  it  enters  so  largely  into  our  every- 
day life.  If  there  is  one  fact  which,  more  than  an- 
other, every  one's  every-day  experience  forces  upon 
his  notice,  it  is  surely  this,  the  universality  of  suffer- 


282  SERMONS  FOR  THE  YEAR 

ing,  and  of  everything  that  comes  under  the  name 
of  calamity  in  this  world,  which  is,  in  truth,  a  vale 
of  tears.  Go  through  all  classes  of  society,  from  the 
highest  to  the  lowest.  Examine  all  the  conditions 
and  accidents  which  make  up  the  lives  of  men;  and 
you  will  find  no  class,  nor  any  individual  of  a  class, 
nor  any  circumstance  or  state  of  life,  exempt  from 
the  operation  of  this  universal  law  of  suffering.  But, 
if  this  fact  be  so  firmly  established  by  experience,  it 
is  no  less  true  that  there  is  no  moral  truth,  which  is 
more  frequently  and  cogently  impressed  on  us  by 
divine  revelation  than  the  salutariness  and  sancti- 
fying influence  of  suffering,  and  its  eminent  place  in 
that  holy  discipline  by  which  we  become  true  Chris- 
tians, in  fact  as  well  as  in  name. 

For,  consider  that  the  one  object  for  which  we  live, 
the  one  end  which  we  aspire  to  attain,  is,  in  the  words 
of  the  apostle,  that  Christ  may  be  formed  in  us, 
that  we  may  be  conformed  to  His  likeness.  (Rom. 
VIII;  29.)  He  it  is  Who  has  opened  to  us  the  gates 
of  heaven;  and  none  shall- enter  therein,  save  those 
who  walk  in  His  footsteps.  Turn  over  the  pages 
of  holy  Writ;  and  see  if  you  can  find  any  lesson  more 
frequently  inculcated  than  this:  "If  any  man  will 
come  after  Me,  let  him  deny  himself  and  take  up  his 
cross,  and  follow  Me."  (Matt.  XVI ;  24.)  "Through 
many  tribulations  we  must  enter  into  the  Kingdom 
of  God."  (Acts  XIV;  21.)  "The  kingdom  of  heaven 
suffereth  violence;  and  the  violent  bear  it  away." 
(Matt.  XI;  12.)  The  apostle  exhorts  the  faithful 
of  the  Church  of  Rome,  "to  suffer  with  Christ, 


IV  SUNDAY  AFTER  EPIPHANY       283 

that  they  may  be  glorified  with  Him. ' '  (Rom.  VIII ; 
17.)  And  he  takes  care  to  add  that  he  deems  "the 
sufferings  of  this  time  not  worthy  to  be  compared  to 
the  glory  to  come  that  shall  be  revealed  in  us."  (18.) 
In  this  passage  the  apostle  represents  this  truth  in 
the  most  profound  and  sublime  language,  which  we 
should  do  well  to  ponder.  Now,"we  know,"  he  says, 
"that  to  them  that  love  God,  all  things  work  together 
unto  good  to  such  as  according  to  His  purpose  are 
called  to  be  saints."  (28.)  Are  we  to  conclude 
from  those  words,  that  they  who  love  God  shall  be 
exempt  from  the  ordinary  lot  of  suffering?  That 
the  laws  of  nature  shall  be  suspended  and  the  malice 
of  the  human  will  thwarted  on  their  behalf,  so  that 
they  may  not  suffer?  Is  this  the  way  in  which  all 
things  co-operate  for  their  good?  Nothing,  my 
brethren,  could  be  farther  from  the  truth.  Hear 
how  the  apostle  explains  his  meaning.  "For  whom 
He  foreknew,  He  also  predestinated  to  be  made  con- 
formable to  the  image  of  His  Son."  (29.)  And 
where  are  we  to  look  for  this  image  of  His  Son,  to 
which  we  are  to  be  made  conformable?  Look  on 
the  crucifix,  and  the  question  is  solved.  There  is  the 
perfect  type,  according  to  which  we  must  shape  and 
fashion  our  lives,  if  we  would  be  numbered  amongst 
the  elect.  Therefore,  the  same  apostle  says,  that  the 
sum  and  substance  of  his  gospel  is  this:  "We  preach 
Christ  crucified:"  (I  Cor.  I;  23)  and,  again, "I  judged 
not  myself  to  know  anything  among  you,  but  Jesus 
Christ  and  Him  crucified."  (I  Cor.  II;  2.) 

This  great  truth  has  made  the  saints  what  they 
are.     And  if  we  may  make  comparisons  between  the 


284  SERMONS  FOR  THE  YEAR 

Saints,  the  measure  of  their  sanctity  and,  conse- 
quently, of  their  glory,  is  in  proportion  to  the  degree 
of  conformity  to  their  divine  Example  which  they 
have  reached.  Some  of  them,  like  the  seraphic  St. 
Francis,  were  able  to  say  with  St.  Paul:  "I  bear  the 
marks  of  the  Lord  Jesus  in  my  body."  (Gal.  VI ;  17.) 
The  prints  of  the  wounds  in  His  Hands  and  Feet,  and 
sacred  Side.  But  you  must  not  suppose  that  this 
conformity  to  our  Lord  in  His  sufferings,  is  only 
meant  for  saints.  Far  from  it;  there  is,  absolutely, 
no  road  to  heaven,  except  the  way  of  the  cross.  This 
is  a  simple  elementary  truth  of  faith.  One  of  the 
most  pernicious  errors  of  the  so-called  Reformation, 
in  fact,  the  very  essence  of  that  foul  apostacy,  lay 
in  the  notion  that  our  Lord  endured  His  sufferings, 
in  order  to  exempt  us  from  them;  and  that  His  Pas- 
sion was  a  kind  of  cloak  to  cover  all  the  excesses  of 
our  vicious  indulgence.  But  what  does  the  scripture 
say?  "Christ  also  suffered  for  us,  leaving  you  an 
example,  that  you  should  follow  His  steps."  (I 
Pet.  II;  21.)  You  may  say,  "this  saying  is  hard; 
and  who  can  hear  it?"  (John  VI;  61.)  But,  my 
brethren,  we  can  preach  no  other  gospel  than  that 
which  we  have  received;  and,  after  all,  is  it  hard? 
Does  not  Our  blessed  Lord  Himself  say:  "My  yoke 
is  sweet,  and  My  burden  light!"  (Matt.  XI;  30.) 
What,  then,  is  meant  by  taking  up  our  cross,  fol- 
lowing Him,  and  walking  in  His  Footsteps?  This 
maxim  is  both  a  precept  and  a  counsel.  As  a  counsel 
it  was  embraced  by  the  saints,  who  voluntarily  im- 


posed  on  themselves  mortifications  of  body  and 
mind,  fastings  and  long  vigils,  in  order  to  become 
more  and  more  like,  unto  their  divine  Master.  As 
such,  it  was  practiced  by  the  great  St.  Teresa,  who 
thirsted  and  prayed  for  sufferings  with  a  greater 
ardour  than  that  with  which  worldlings  crave  for 
sensual  indulgence.  But  all  are  not  called  to  this 
degree  of  perfection.  But  all  are  called  to  obey  this 
maxim,  as  far  as  it  is  a  precept;  that  is  to  say,  so  far 
as  it  enjoins  us,  patiently  and  cheerfully  to  submit 
to  whatever  sufferings,  God,  in  His  good  Providence, 
may  impose  upon  us.  Is  this  hard?  On  the  con- 
trary, to  look  at  the  matter  from  the  lowest  point 
of  view,  there  is  no  means  so  efficacious  in  alleviating 
sufferings  as  the  cheerful  submission  to  them  from 
supernatural  motives.  I  began  by  saying  that 
suffering  is  inevitable  for  all.  And  so  it  is.  You 
know  it  as  well  as  I  do.  The  good  suffer,  the  bad 
suffer.  The  good  suffer,  for  it  is  written:  "All  that 
will  live  godly  in  Christ  Jesus  shall  suffer  persecu- 
tion." (II  Tim.  Ill;  12.)  The  bad  suffer,  for,  again, 
it  is  written:  "Tribulation  and  anguish  upon  every 
soul  of  man  that  worketh  evil."  (Rom.  II;  9.) 
What,  then,  is  the  difference  between  the  two  classes, 
if  both  suffer  alike?  Just  this,  that  the  sufferings 
of  the  wicked  are  but  the  beginning  of  never-ending 
torments  in  the  next  world.  Whilst  the  sufferings 
of  the  good:  "that  which  is  at  present  momentary 
and  light  of  our  tribulation,  worketh  for  us  above 
measure  exceedingly  an  eternal  weight  of  glory." 
(II  Cor.  IV;  17.)  Let  us,  then,  take  a  common  sense 


286  SERMONS  FOR  THE  YEAR 

view  of  the  matter;  and  since  we  must,  in  any  case, 
suffer;  let  us  take  care  that  our  sufferings  be  profit- 
able to  us,  by  patience  and  resignation,  and  not  prej- 
udicial, by  causing  us  to  repine  and  murmur,  and  in 
many  ways  to  offend  God.  How  many  are  there 
who  make  their  sufferings  and  anxieties  a  pretext  for 
neglecting  their  religious  duties.  Whereas,  they 
ought  to  stimulate  us  to  a  more  fervent  discharge  of 
them.  How  many,  again,  who  bear  them  with  stoi- 
cal indifference;  yet  altogether  neglect  the  precious 
graces  and  merits  which  they  might  obtain  through 
them. 

Suffering  has  been  consecrated  by  the  life  and 
death  of  our  blessed  Lord.  It  is,  therefore,  in  Him 
and  through  Him,  and  with  Him,  that  we  ought  to 
suffer.  From  Him  we  must  seek  consolation,  and 
we  shall  surely  find  it.  Let  us  study  this  day's 
gospel  and  see  how  and  where  we  are  to  find  it. 
When  the  disciples  saw  themselves  in  imminent 
danger  of  being  overwhelmed  by  the  waves,  they 
went  to  Jesus,  Who  was  asleep,  and  awakened  Him, 
saying:  "Lord,  save  us,  we  perish."  Jesus  rebuked 
^them  for  their  want  of  faith;  and  rising  up,  He  com- 
manded the  winds  and  the  seas,  and  there  came  a 
great  calm.  Thus,  it  is  also  with  us.  When  we 
are  overwhelmed  with  the  waves  of  tribulation, 
whether  temporal  or  spiritual,  of  the  body  or  of  the 
mind,  whether  by  loss  of  health  or  fortune  or  friends 
or  reputation,  or  whether  it  be  anguish  of  mind,  from 
cares,  anxieties,  temptations  or  dangers  that  im- 
peril our  soul,  let  us  seek  refuge  and  consolation  and 


IV  SUNDAY  AFTER  EPIPHANY       287 

timely  aid  in  our  blessed  Lord,  Who  seems  to  be 
asleep,  indeed;  but  as  it  is  written  of  Him:  "I  sleep 
and  My  Heart  watcheth."  (Cant.  V;  2.)  Let  us 
turn  to  Him,  and  He  will  not  fail  to  arise  and  calm 
the  tempest,  either  by  allaying  its  fury  or  by  giving 
us  strength  to  bear  it.  We,  with  our  little  faith, 
think  that  our  Lord  sleeps  in  the  mysterious  silence  of 
the  Tabernacle;  but  His  Heart  watcheth  and  waiteth 
for  us  to  come  and  lay  our  griefs  before  Him.  "Oh 
come  to  Me,"  He  says,  "all  you  that  labour  and  are 
burdened,  and  I  will  refresh  you."  (Matt.  XI;  28.) 
It  is  for  this  that  He  instituted  the  blessed  Sacra- 
ment of  His  Love.  It  is  for  this  that  He  abides  with 
us  always  on  our  altars ;  that  we  might  have  a  never- 
failing  resource  in  all  our  troubles,  in  His  divine 
presence  and  assistance.  Come,  then,  all  ye  weary 
souls,  and  lay  your  burdens  at  the  Feet  of  our  blessed 
Lord,  and  you  shall  receive  rest  and  peace  in  the 
sweet  communion  of  His  Body  and  Blood  and  of 
His  divine  presence,  until,  in  His  Own  good  time, 
His  Glory  shall  be  revealed  to  us,  face  to  face.  "Do 
not,  therefore,  lose  your  confidence  which  hath  a 
great  reward;  for  patience  is  necessary  for  you,  that 
doing  the  Will  of  God,  you  may  receive  the  promise ; 
for  yet  a  little  while  and  He  that  is  to  come  will 
come  and  will  not  delay."  (Hebrews  X;  35,  37) 


288     SERMONS  FOR  THE  YEAR 

FOURTH  SUNDAY  AFTER  EPIPHANY. 

(From  the  Lesson.) 

"He  that  loveth  his  neighbour  hath  fulfilled  the 
law."  (Rom.  XIII;  8.) 

When  our  divine  Lord  was  asked  which  was  the 
greatest  commandment  of  the  law,  He  answered: 
"Thou shalt  love  the  Lord,  thy  God"  (Matt.  XXII; 
37),  and,  without  being  asked,  He  went  on  to  say 
which  was  the  next  Commandment  in  importance: 
"Thou  shalt  love  thy  neighbour  as  thyself."  (39.) 
Moreover,  this  second  Commandment  is  like  unto 
the  first — that  is,  it  is  founded  upon  it.  The  same 
motives  which  should  lead  us  to  love  God  should 
also  move  us  to  love  our  neighbour.  Hence,  the 
apostle  does  not  hesitate  to  say  that  "if  any  man  say 
I  love  God  and  hateth  his  brother,  he  is  a  liar." 
(I  John  IV;  20.)  We  may  thus  judge  of  the  im- 
portance of  this  precept,  how  everything  depends 
upon  it.  For  on  the  one  hand,  if  there  is  any  one, 
no  matter  how  much  he  may  have  injured  us,  whom 
we  exclude  from  our  love,  then  we  do  not  love  God, 
and  we  are  guilty  of  violating  the  whole  law ;  for,  on 
these  two  Commandments  dependeth  the  whole 
law  and  the  prophets.  (Matt.  XIII;  40.)  Again, 
the  apostle  teaches  us  in  this  day's  lesson  that  the 
observance  of  the  law  of  charity  includes  the  ob- 
servance of  the  whole  law  of  God.  Hence,  whoso- 
ever loves  not  his  neighbour  has  made  void  the 
whole  law;  and,  as  St.  John  says,  such  a  one  abideth 
in  death.  (I  John  III;  14.)  Now,  it  is  of  the 


IV  SUNDAY  AFTER  EPIPHANY       289 

greater  consequence  that  we  should  remember  this 
precept  because,  if  we  overlook  it,  we  are  very  apt 
to  deceive  ourselves. 

It  is  very  easy  to  persuade  ourselves  that  we  love 
God ;  it  is  not  so  easy  to  delude  ourselves  with  regard 
to  our  neighbour.  For  if  we  really  entertain  feel- 
ings of  hatred  and  aversion  towards  him,  we  cannot 
easily  blind  ourselves  to  the  fact.  The  love  of  our 
neighbour,  then,  is  a  good  test  of  the  reality  of  our 
love  of  God ;  and  as  such,  it  is  spoken  of  by  St.  John 
in  these  words:  "For  he  that  loveth  not  his  brother 
whom  he  seeth,  how  can  he  love  God,  whom  he 
seeth  not?"  (I  John  IV;  20.) 

But  in  considering  this  precept,  the  first  question 
that  occurs  is,  who  is  our  neighbour?  Now,  this 
question  was  put  many  ages  ago,  and  was  answered 
by  the  mouth  of  the  eternal  Wisdom.  Our  I/ord 
answered  this  question  by  relating  the  parable  of 
the  good  Samaritan,  who  regardless  of  the  distinc- 
tions (Luke  X,  30,  37)  of  race  and  creed,  and  for- 
getful of  national  antipathies,  discharged  the  duties 
of  charity  towards  a  suffering  fellow-creature.  (Luke 
X;  30,  37.)  The  conclusion,  then,  which  we  are  to 
draw  from  this  parable  is,  that  every  human  being 
is  our  neighbour,  whom  we  are  bound  to  love,  no 
matter  of  what  nation  or  religion  he  may  be.  The 
law  of  charity  knows  of  no  distinctions  of  race  or 
creed,  or  station  in  life.  We  are  bound  to  love 
alike  relations  and  strangers,  friends  and  enemies, 
countrymen  and  aliens,  Catholics  and  heretics, 
Christians  and  infidels,  good  and  bad,  those  who 


290  SERMONS  FOR  THE  YEAR 

hate  us  and  seek  to  injure  us,  as  well  as  those  who 
love  us  and  do  us  good.  There  are  several  grounds 
for  this  universal  law. of  charity,  amongst  which  are 
the  following: 

(1)  We  are  bound  to  love  all  without  exception, 
because  all  are  made  to  the  likeness  of  God.     No 
doubt,  that  divine  image  may  have  been  defaced 
and  marred  in  many  instances,  but  still  we  should 
not  be  justified  in  thinking  any  one  so  corrupt  as 
not  to  retain  some  traces  of  God's  likeness  in  his 
nature;  and,^consequently,  we  should  not  be  justified 
in  excluding  him  from  our  love. 

(2)  We  are  bound  to  love  all  because  we  are  all 
brethren,  of  the  same  flesh  and  blood.     God  "hath 
made  of  one,  all  mankind,  to  dwell  upon  the  whole 
face  of  the  earth."     (Acts  XVII;   26.)     However 
diverse  may  be  the  races  which  now  people  the 
earth;  nevertheless,  all  are  alike  descended  from 
one  common  ancestor;  all  are  brethren.     And  if  it 
be,  as  the  Psalmist  says:  "a  good  and  a  pleasant 
thing  for  brethren  to  dwell  together  in  unity,"  (Ps. 
CXXXII ;  1) ;  so,  on  the  other  hand,  it  is  a  detestable 
thing  in  the  sight  of  God  and  man,  for  brother  to  be 
at  variance  with  brother. 

(3)  Another  reason  is  that  all,  without  exception, 
have  been  redeemed  by  the  Blood  of  Jesus  Christ. 
Christ  died  for  all,  and  wishes  all  to  be  saved  by  His 
Blood.     If  all  are  not  saved,  it  is  their  own  fault 
that  they  are  lost.     Since  God  wishes  the  eternal 
salvation  of  all  men  without  exception,  and  has 
offered  to  all  the  means  of  salvation,  so  ought  we 


IV  SUNDAY  AFTER  EPIPHANY       291 

sincerely  to  wish  the  welfare  of  all,  and  to  do  what 
lies  in  our  power  to  promote  their  welfare. 

(4)  The  importance  of  this  Commandment  may 
be  measured  by  these  words  of  our  I/ord,  according 
to  which  He  makes  it  the  special  precept  of  His 
gospel,  and  the  distinguishing  characteristic  of  His 
disciples.  It  is  His  Own  special  Commandment: 
"A  new  Commandment  I  give  unto  you,  that  you 
love  one  another.  As  I  have  loved  you,  that  you 
also  love  one  another."  (John  XIII;  34.)  It  is 
the  distinguishing  mark  of  the  true  followers  of 
Christ:  "By  this  shall  all  men  know  that  you  are 
My  disciples,  if  you  have  love  one  for  another." 
(35.) 

But  it  is  not  enough  to  say  that  we  ought  to  love 
our  neighbour.  We  are  moreover  taught  in  what 
way  we  should  show  that  love.  "Thou  shalt  love 
thy  neighbour  as  thyself."  We  must  bear  towards 
our  neighbour  the  same  kind  of  love  which  we  have 
for  ourselves.  Hence,  we  are  bound  (1)  to  wish 
for  our  neighbour  all  the  good  we  wish  for  ourselves. 
So  that  we  sin  against  this  precept  by  envy,  as  often 
as  we  begrudge  our  neighbour  the  possession  of  those 
things  which  we  have  not  got  ourselves;  by  selfish- 
ness, as  often  as  we  neglect  to  procure  for  our  neigh- 
bour the  goods  which  we  enjoy  ourselves;  by  hard- 
heartedness,  as  often  as  we  refuse  to  assist  our 
neighbour  in  his  necessity.  (2)  The  love  we  bear 
for  our  neighbour  should  be  based  on  the  same 
motives  as  those  for  which  we  love  ourselves;  that 
is  to  say,  not  for  the  sake  of  self,  but  for  God's  sake, 


292  SERMONS  FOR  THE  YEAR 

Who  wills  our  eternal  happiness,  and  Whose  Glory 
is  promoted  thereby.  We  should  love  our  neigh- 
bour for  the  same  reasons.  From  the  same  source 
springs  that  great  maxim  of  Christian  charity,  not 
to  do  unto  another  that  which  we  would  not  wish  to 
be  done  to  ourselves. 

Moreover,  charity  must  be  universal.  There  are 
some  people  who  are  charitable  enough  towards 
those  whom  they  like,  in  whom  they  are  interested, 
but  who  would  turn  with  disgust  and  contempt  from 
others  who  equally  claim  that  charity  as  our  fellow- 
creatures.  Some  people  are  ready  enough  to  under- 
take works  of  charity  so  long  as  it  suits  their  inclina- 
tion, or  brings  with  it  a  certain  amount  of  distinction 
in  the  eyes  of  men,  but  care  nothing  about  those 
unobstrusive  works  of  charity  which  are  pursued  for 
purely  supernatural  motives.  It  is  this  kind  of  char- 
ity which  alone  is  acceptable  to  God,  and  will  merit 
an  eternal  reward. 

(5)  Again,  since  we  must  love  our  neighbour  as 
ourselves,  we  should  strive  to  love  him  more  than 
ourselves ;  for  if  we  aim  at  anything  lower  than  this, 
we  shall  fall  far  short  of  what  is  required  of  us,  on 
account  of  the  difficulty  of  the  precept  and  the  over- 
whelming force  of  self-love.  Besides,  our  Lord 
commands  us  to  love  one  another,  as  He  has  loved 
us.  And  since,  secondly,  He  has  loved  us  infinitely 
more  than  we  can  love  Him;  having  loved  us  even 
unto  death;  His  example  teaches  us  that  we  should 
sacrifice  everything  except  our  souls  (for  that  we 
may  not  do),  for  the  love  of  our  neighbour. 


IV  SUNDAY  AFTER  EPIPHANY       293 

When  it  is  said  that  we  must  love  all  alike,  it  is 
not  meant  that  we  ought  to  bear  the  same  degree 
of  love  towards  all.  There  are  different  kinds  and 
degrees  of  love,  according  to  the  different  degrees 
of  relationship  which  exist  between  ourselves  and 
others.  Thus,  a  husband  or  wife,  a  parent  or  child, 
a  brother  or  sister,  a  benefactor  or  friend,  are  en- 
titled to  a  higher  and  more  intense  love  than  one 
who  has  not  these  claims  upon  our  love.  But  what 
is  meant  is,  that  there  is  no  human  being,  be  he  who 
he  may,  who  ought  to  be  excluded  from  our  love. 
Even  our  enemies  we  are  bound  to  love;  and  that 
too,  when  we  have  done  nothing  to  provoke  their 
enmity.  The  Commandment  of  our  Lord  is  ex- 
plicit on  this  point:  "You  have  heard  that  it  hath 
been  said,  'thou  shalt  love  thy  neighbour  and  hate 
thy  enemy;'  but  I  say  to  you:  'love  your  enemies; 
do  good  to  them  that  hate  you;  and  pray  for  them 
that  persecute  and  calumniate  you.'  "  (Matt.  V; 
43,  44.)  For  in  doing  so,  we  are  but  imitating,  as 
we  are  bound  to  do,  our  Lord  Himself,  Who  laid 
down  His  life  for  His  enemies,  for  those  who  cruci- 
fied Him,  and  for  those  who,  by  their  wilful  sin, 
make  themselves  accomplices  in  that  crime. 

It  may  seem  difficult,  no  doubt,  in  the  midst  of 
some  great  provocation,  to  practice  this  precept,  but 
it  is  not  impossible,  for  God  never  commands  that 
which  is  impossible.  Nor  is  it  so  very  difficult,  if 
we  use  the  means  which  God  has  put  into  cur  power, 
to  overcome  the  feelings  of  resentment  which  may 
arise  in  our  hearts.  We  ought,  on  such  occasions, 


294  SERMONS  FOR  THE  YEAR 

to  pray  for  grace,  and  to  consider  the  many  transgres- 
sions of  which  we  ourselves  have  been  guilty;  and 
in  spite  of  which,  God  has  never  ceased  to  manifest 
towards  us  His  love  and  forgiveness.  Were  we  to 
think  of  this  and  pray  with  all  humility  for  God's 
grace,  it  would  be  an  easy  task  to  overlook  the  trifling 
transgressions  which  our  brother  may  have  com- 
mitted against  us.  "If  you  will  not  forgive  men, 
neither  will  your  Father  forgive  you  your  offenses." 
(Matt.  VI;  15.)  On  the  other  hand,  if  we  do  for- 
give our  enemies  and  bear  wrongs  patiently,  and 
love  those  who  hate  us,  and  pray  for  these  who 
calumniate  us,  we  shall  have  the  consolation  of 
being  reckoned  as  God's  children;  we  shall  have 
nothing  to  fear  from  His  judgment;  for,  having 
dealt  mercy  to  others,  we  shall  find  mercy  our- 
selves. (Matt.  V;  7.) 


FOURTH  SUNDAY  AFTER  EPIPHANY. 

(Another  Sermon.    Abridged  from  Bourdaloue.) 

"Why  are  you  fearful,  0  ye  of  little  faith?"  (Matt. 
VIII;  26.) 

The  holy  gospel  which  has  just  been  read  pre- 
sents to  us,  my  dear  brethren,  a  graphic  picture  of 
this  present  life;  and  is  calculated  to  console  and 
strengthen  us  against  a  temptation  which  is  sure 
to  assail  those  who  are  striving  to  live  piously  in 
Christ  Jesus.  For  what  do  we  see?  We  see  those 
who  are  trying  to  serve  God  and  to  save  their  souls, 
exposed  to  the  violence  of  the  winds  and  the  waves 


IV  SUNDAY  AFTER  EPIPHANY       295 

overwhelmed  with  temptations,  with  calamities  of 
every  kind,  so  that  they  seem  on  the  point  of  per- 
ishing; and,  all  the  time,  the  Providence  of  God 
seems  to  sleep — to  have  no  care  or  regard  for  them. 
With  the  royal  Prophet,  they  cry  out:  "Arise,  why 
sleepest  thou,  O  I/ord?  Arise,  and  cast  us  not  off 
to  the  end."  (Ps.  XUII;  23.)  And,  with  the 
trembling  apostles,  they  exclaim:  "Lord,  save  us; 
we  perish."  But  when  in  the  midst  of  these  tem- 
pests and  dangers,  they  see  the  peace  and  prosperity, 
the  apparent  happiness  of  sinners,  they  have,  in- 
deed, additional  reason  for  being  re-assured  by  the 
voice  of  our  divine  I/ord,  chiding  them  for  their 
diffidence,  and  assuring  them  of  His  divine  presence 
and  assistance.  "Why  are  you  fearful,  O  ye  of 
little  faith?"  This,  then,  is  the  mystery  of  divine 
Providence  which  I  wish  you  to  ponder  over  on 
this  occasion:  why  the  just  are  afflicted  and  the 
wicked  allowed  to  prosper.  When  we  come  to  con- 
sider the  matter,  we  shall  find  nothing  in  this  state 
of  things  calculated  to  shake  our  faith;  rather,  we 
shall  find  therein  effectual  motives  for  strengthen- 
ing our  faith.  For,  my  brethren,  even  if  the  ways 
of  Providence  were  altogether  inscrutable  in  this 
respect,  would  this  be  a  reason  for  calling  that  Pro- 
vidence in  question,  or  for  refusing  to  atquiesce  in 
its  dispositions?  Can  we,  with  our  limited  faculties, 
presume  to  know  the  Mind  of  Him  Whose  Provi- 
dence reaches  from  end  to  end  mightily,  and  order- 
eth  all  things  sweetly?  (Wisd.  VIII;  1.)  When 
holy  David  was  considering  this  matter  (for  it 


296  SERMONS  FOR  THE  YEAR 

was  a  difficulty  to  him,  as  it  is  to  us),  he  thus  argued 
with  himself:  "I  studied  that  I  might  know  this 
thing,"  namely,  why  the  just  are  persecuted  and 
oppressed;  and  why  sinners  are  allowed  to  revel  in 
honours,  in  pleasures,  and  in  all  the  satisfactions 
of  this  world.  But  he  was  soon  convinced  that  his 
investigations  were  fruitless:  "it  is  a  labour  in  my 
sight."  The  conclusion  he  draws  is  one  that  we 
must,  perforce,  come  to  ourselves;  namely,  to  wait 
till  the  consummation  of  all  things,  when  we  shall 
not  fail  to  see  the  Providence  of  God  amply  justi- 
fied in  all  its  ways:  "Until  I  go  into  the  sauctuary 
of  God  and  understand  concerning  their  last  ends." 
(Ps.  LXXII;  16,  17.)  Nevertheless,  my  dear  breth- 
ren, there  are  not  wanting  many  grave  reasons 
which  justify  the  ways  of  Providence  in  this  respect, 
which  we  should  do  well  to  consider  for  our  own  con- 
solation. And  although  the  ways  of  Providence, 
as  we  have  seen,  need  no  justification  in  order  to 
claim  our  absolute  submission,  yet,  undoubtedly, 
the  heart  is  better  prepared  to  make  the  sacrifice 
demanded  of  it,  when  the  mind  understands  the 
reasons  of  the  sacrifice.  The  first  reason,  then,  is 
that  the  Almighty  wishes  to  test  and  try  the  souls 
that  are  devoted  to  Him,  by  afflictions. 

Hence,  in  the  language  of  holy  Scripture,  afflic- 
tions are  called  temptations  or  trials.  Thus,  God 
tempted  Job  by  afflictions  of  every  kind.  Thus, 
too,  He  tempts,  and  as  it  were  sounds  the  very 
depths  of  every  heart  that  is  devoted  to  His  service, 
by  afflictions  and  sufferings.  It  was  a  common 


IV  SUNDAY  AFTER  EPIPHANY        297 

argument  with  the  pagans  of  old,  against  Christian- 
ity, to  point  out  the  extreme  misery  to  which  the 
Christians  were  reduced;  from  which  the  pagans 
concluded  that  the  God  of  the  Christians  either  had 
not  the  power  or  the  compassion  to  deliver  them. 
To  this  argument  Minutius  Felix  replies:  "The  God, 
Whom  we  worship,  is  well  able  to  save  us ;  nor  is  He 
indifferent  about  us ;  but  He  tries  each  one  of  us  by 
adversity."  Hence,  if  the  wicked  prosper,  it  is  only 
because  they  are  not  worthy  to  be  tried.  We,  on 
the  contrary'  ought  to  rejoice,  if  we  are  cast  in  the 
furnace  of  affliction,  that  tne  pure  gold  may  be 
tested;  and  we  ought  to  cry  out  with  holy  David: 
"Prove  me,  O  Lord,  and  try  me — burn  my  reins 
and  my  heart."  (Ps.  XXV;  2.) 

Another  reason  why  God  permits  the  just  to  be 
afflicted  is  to  purify  them  from  earthly  attachments. 
For  if  temporal  blessings  were  to  be  the  reward  of 
virtue,  we  should  inevitably  come  to  serve  God,  not 
for  His  Own  sake,  but  for  the  sake  of  these  temporal 
things;  and  we  know,  by  sad  experience,  what  power 
these  things  have  of  perverting  and  corrupting  the 
heart  of  man,  when  once  it  attaches  itself  to  them. 
Hence,  it  is  a  most  merciful  dispensation  of  divine 
Providence,  when  He  keeps  us  in  a  state  of  poverty, 
and  thus  removes  from  us  the  dangers  which  accom- 
pany the  possession  of  riches;  when  He  keeps  us  in 
a  state  of  obscurity,  and  thereby  saves  us  from  the 
perils  which  environ  those  who  walk  on  the  giddy 
heights  of  human  greatness — when  He  visits  us  with 
sickness  and  bodily  weakness,  and  thereby  ensures 


298  SERMONS  FOR  THE  YEAR 

us  against  those  sensual  gratifications  and  propen- 
sities of  the  flesh,  which  the  body,  in  a  robust  state 
of  health,  would  claim  to  the  detriment  of  our 
soul's  health  and  welfare. 

A  third  reason  is  that,  by  afflictions,  God  leads 
the  soul  to  attach  itself  more  closely  to  Him,  and  to 
depend  more  entirely  upon  Him.  St.  Bernard  says 
there  are  four  sorts  of  predestined.  The  first  are 
those  who  conquor  the  kingdom  of  heaven  by 
violence;  they  are  those  who  embrace  a  life  of  vol- 
untary poverty.  The  second  are  those  who  bargain 
and  traffic  for  it ;  they  are  those  who  possess  the  sub- 
stance of  this  world,  but  who  redeem  their  sins  with 
alms,  and  make  friends  to  themselves  of  the  poor 
out  of  the  mammon  of  iniquity,  who  may  receive 
them  into  the  eternal  tabernacles.  Thirdly,  there 
are  those  who  steal  the  kingdom  of  heaven;  they  are 
the  humble  of  heart,  who  hide  their  good  works 
from  the  eyes  of  men.  Lastly,  there  are  those  who 
are  forced  into  the  kingdom  of  heaven.  And  how 
are  they  forced?  By  tribulations  and  afflictions  of 
every  kind.  God  does  not  permit  them  to  find  their 
end  and  happiness  in  those  temporal  goods  which, 
if  they  possessed  them,  would  hinder  them  from 
obtaining  eternal  happiness.  Thus,  does  Almighty 
God,  in  many  a  case,  by  sickness,  by  suffering,  by 
poverty,  by  loss  of  friends,  of  reputation,  loosen  and 
take  away,  one  by  one,  the  earthly  props  on  which 
we  were  wont  to  rely ;  in  order  to  compel  us  to  throw 
ourselves,  wholly  and  unreservedly,  into  the  arms 
of  His  divine  Providence. 


IV  SUNDAY  AFTER  EPIPHANY        299 

Again,  my  brethren,  afflictions  are  necessary  for 
us,  because  heaven  is  a  prize  to  be  won  by  combats. 
It  is  a  crown  which  can  only  adorn  the  brows  of  the 
conqueror.  If,  then,  we  are  to  be  exempt  from 
trials  and  sufferings,  where  would  be  the  combats? 
Afflictions,  then,  are  necessary  to  enhance  our  merit, 
and  to  prepare  for  us  the  materials  of  our  eternal 
crown  in  heaven.  Hence,  too,  the  greater  the 
merit,  and  the  brighter  the  crown  which  is  destined 
for  us  hereafter,  the  greater  and  the  more  grievous 
must  be  the  afflictions  with  which  we  are  tried  in 
this  present  life. 

Furthermore,  all  of  us,  even  the  most  perfect  and 
the  most  innocent,  have  much  to  expiate.  (Prov. 
XXIV;  16.)  If  the  just  man  falls  seven  times  a 
day,  when  and  where  are  these  daily  faults  and  im- 
perfections to  be  expiated?  How  are  these  debts, 
due  to  the  divine  Justice,  to  be  acquitted  ?  Are 
they  to  be  reserved  for  that  purgatorial  prison,  from 
which  no  debtor  shall  escape  until  he  has  paid  the 
uttermost  farthing?  Or  shall  not  God,  rather,  in 
His  paternal  kindness  and  compassion,  burn  here, 
and  cut  here,  that  He  may  spare  us  there?  How 
grateful,  then,  ought  we  not  to  be,  if  God  gives  us  an 
opportunity  of  thus  satisfying  for  our  manifold  sins. 
How  terrible,  on  the  other  hand,  is  the  fate  of  sin- 
ners, who  being  left  by  God  to  follow  their  own 
devices  in  peace  and  contentment,  are,  in  the  ener- 
getic language  of  Tertullian,  compared  to  victims 
which  are  being  fattened  for  sacrifice. 


300  SERMONS  FOR  THE  YEAR 

But  besides  all  these  reasons,  which  justify  the 
ways  of  Providence  in  visiting  the  just  with  afflictions, 
we  may  appeal  to  them  as  a  perpetual  and  invinci- 
ble argument  for  the  existence  of  a  future  state, 
where  all  wrongs  shall  be  righted ,  where  all  inequalities 
shall  be  redressed,  where,  in  short,  every  one  shall  re- 
ceive the  just  recompense  of  the  works  which  he  has 
done  in  the  flesh.  The  Providence,  then,  under  which 
we  live,  furnishes  us  with  an  irrefutable  argument 
for  the  faith  which  we  profess.  Hence,  that  holy 
patriarch,  Job,  broke  forth  into  that  sublime  con- 
fession of  faith:  "I  know  that  my  Redeemer  liveth." 
(Job.  XIX,  25.)  How  did  he  know  it?  He  knew  it  in 
the  clear  light  and  evidence  of  his  afflictions.  De- 
prived of  all  his  wealth,  of  house,  of  family,  stricken 
with  ulcers,  and  seated  on  a  dunghill,  then  it  was 
that  he  realized  this  truth,  and  saw  it  with  that  vivid 
perception  which  the  visitations  of  God's  chastise- 
ment alone  can  bring.  Thus,  too,  holy  David, 
when  did  he  declare  that  "he  believed  that  he  should 
see  the  good  things  of  the  Lord  in  the  land  of  the 
living?"  (Ps.  XXVI;  13.)  It  was  when  he  was 
fleeing  as  a  hunted  fugitive  from  the  hands  of  the 
persecuting  Saul. 

The  afflictions  which  befall  the  just  in  this  life, 
also  confirm  our  faith  in  the  divine  testimonies,  be- 
cause they  have  been  clearly  and  distinctly  foretold 
by  our  divine  Lord:  "Amen,  amen,  I  say  to  you, 
that  you  shall  lament  and  weep ;  but  the  world  shall 
rejoice  *  *  *  these  things  have  I  spoken  to 
you,  that  you  may  not  be  scandalized."  (John 


V  SUNDAY  AFTER  EPIPHANY        301 

XVI;  20.)  If,  then,  we  seethe  wicked  exalted  and 
the  just  oppressed,  this  is  only  what  our  Lord  has 
predicted.  The  fulfillment  of  the  prediction  is  neces- 
sarily the  confirmation  of  our  faith;  it  is  also  the 
foundation  of  our  hope.  For,  my  brethren,  if  one 
part  of  our  Lord's  prediction  comes  true,  then  shall 
the  other  part  be  fulfilled  with  the  like  infallible 
certainty.  And  what  is  the  other  part  of  the  pre- 
diction? "You  shall  be  made  sorrowful,  but  your 
sorrow  shall  be  turned  into  joy."  Yes,  my  breth- 
ren, the  hour  cometh,  when  those  who  have  been 
predestined  to  be  made  conformable  to  the  image 
of  the  Son  of  God,  in  His  humiliations  and  suffer- 
ings, shall  also  be  made  like  unto  Him,  in  his  Glory 
and  Happiness.  And  when  that  hour  comes,  how 
will  that  happy  soul  rejoice  in  all  those  trials  and 
afflictions  which  have  purchased  for  it  such  an  over- 
whelming recompense.  "For  I  reckon  that  the 
sufferings  of  this  time  are  not  worthy  to  be  com- 
pared with  the  Glory  to  come,  that  shall  be  revealed 
in  us."  (Rom.  VIII;  18.) 


FIFTH  SUNDAY  AFTER  EPIPHANY. 

(Prom  the  Gospel.) 

"But  while  men  were  asleep  his  enemy  came,  and 
oversowed  cockle  among  the  wheat.''  (Matt.  XIII ;  25. 

There  are  two  sorts  of  persons:  those  who  are 
awake,  and  those  who  sleep.  I  might  rather  have 
said,  that  sleep  is  the  common  condition  of  this 
mortal  life.  For  when  our  Lord  was  describing  the 


302  SERMONS  FOR  THE  YEAR 

condition  of  those  whom  He  came  to  save,  under 
the  parable  of  the  ten  virgins,  whereof  five  were 
wise,  and  five  foolish,  He  says  of  all,  that  they  all 
slumbered  and  slept;  but  there  was  this  difference 
between  them,  that  the  wise  had  their  lamps  trimmed 
and  were  prepared  for  the  great  awakening,  whilst 
the  foolish  virgins  had  allowed  their  lamps  to  go  out 
and  were  not  so  prepared.  The  fact  is,  the  world 
we  live  in  is  a  world  of  dreams,  of  shadows,  of  un- 
realities. All  the  schemes,  speculations,  projects, 
which  engross  the  attention  and  energies  of  men  are 
but  the  phantom  visions  of  the  night,  which  break 
their  uneasy  slumbers.  Surely  it  must  be  a  specta- 
cle for  angels  to  wonder  at,  to  see  the  race  of  men  with 
all  the  stern  realities  of  the  next  world  before  their 
eyes,  death,  judgment,  hell,  heaven,  spend  their 
time,  their  strength,  their  faculties,  in  the  pursuit  of 
bubbles  and  shadows.  Such  indeed,  is  the  lesson 
which  the  inspired  preacher  addresses  to  us  in  those 
memorable  words:  "I,  Ecclesiastes,  was  King  over 
Israel  in  Jerusalem,  and  I  prepared  in  my  mind  to 
seek  and  search  out  wisely,  concerning  all  things 
that  are  done  under  the  sun.  I  have  seen  all  things 
that  are  done  under  the  sun;  and  behold,  all  is  vanity 
and  vexation  of  spirit."  (Eccl.  I;  12,  14.)  Let  us 
examine  a  little  some  of  these  follies,  which  engage 
the  attention  of  men. 

There  is  the  folly  of  learning;  of  those  who  place 
their  chief  happiness  in  the  acquisition  of  knowl- 
edge; who,  for  the  sake  of  that,  will  sacrifice  every- 
thing else;  who  would  even  bring  the  conclusions  of 


V  SUNDAY  AFTER  EPIPHANY        303 

faith  to  the  test  of  their  weak  capacity  and  ephem- 
eral experience;  and  who  impiously  rebel  against 
the  dictates  of  that  authority  which  was  established 
by  God  to  curb  and  direct  the  exercise  of  human 
reason ;  and  whose  office  it  is,  to  prescribe  the  limits 
within  which  the  faculties  of  man,  blinded,  cor- 
rupted and  perverted  as  they  are,  by  sin,  ignorance 
and  concupiscence,  may  exercise  themselves.  "Hith- 
erto thou  shalt  come,  and  shalt  go  no  further; 
and  here  thou  shalt  break  thy  swelling  waves." 
(Job.  XXXVIII ;  1 1.)  Of  this  kind  of  folly  the  wise 
man  says:  "I  have  given  my  heart  to  know  pru- 
dence, and  learning,  and  errors,  and  folly; and  I  have 
perceived  that  in  these  also  there  was  labour  and 
vexation  of  spirit."  (Eccl.  V;  17.) 

Another  folly  is  the  pursuit  of  pleasure.  The 
heart  of  man  is  filled  with  an  insatiable  thirst  after 
happiness.  Now,  there  is  only  one  thing  that  can 
ever  satisfy  that  thirst;  the  possession  of  God,  the 
supreme  Good.  And  here  again,  men  walk  in  dreams. 
Instead  of  seeking  the  only — the  supreme  Good — they 
try  to  find  their  happiness  in  that  which  seems  good, 
but  is  not  so.  Therefore,  these  also  are  unwise,  be- 
cause if  the  creature  is  good,  how  much  better  must 
be  the  Creator  of  them?  "All  men  are  vain  in 
whom  there  is  not  the  knowledge  of  God;  and  who, 
by  these  good  things  that  are  seen  could  not  under- 
stand Him  that  is;  neither  by  attending  to  the 
works,  have  acknowledged  Who  was  the  Workman. 
With  whose  beauty,  if  they  being  delighted,  took 
them  to  be  gods ;  let  them  know  how  much  the  Lord 


304  SERMONS  FOR  THE  YEAR 

of  them  is  more  beautiful  than  they.  For  the  first 
Author  of  beauty  made  all  those  things.  Or  if  they 
admire  their  power  and  their  effects,  let  them  under- 
stand by  them  that  He  that  made  them  is  mightier 
than  they.  For  by  the  greatness  of  the  beauty  and 
of  the  creature,  the  Creator  of  them  may  be  seen, 
so  as  to  be  known  thereby."  (Wisd.  XIII;  1,5.) 
Hence,  the  Preacher  again  says:  "I  said  in  my 
heart,  I  will  go  and  abound  with  delights  and  enjoy 
good  things,  and  I  saw  that  this  also  was  vanity." 
(Eccl.  II;  1.) 

The  third  class  of  dreamers  are  they  that  seek 
after  riches — a  wild  and  incoherent  dream  this.  That 
people  should  seek  after  knowledge  for  its  own 
sake;  after  pleasure,  for  its  own  sake,  is  at  least  in- 
telligible, if  unreasonable.  But  to  seek  after  riches, 
for  their  own  sake,  a  heap  of  dirt  and  dross,  is  neither 
intelligible  nor  reasonable.  Why,  even  the  pagan 
philosophers  had  light  enough  to  ridicule  such  folly 
as  this.  Observe  that  I  am  not  speaking  of  those 
who  covet  wealth  in  order  to  expend  it  on  various 
objects,  noble  or  ignoble;  but  of  those  whose  end  it 
is  to  accumulate  wealth.  For  it  is  a  notorious  fact, 
that  such  as  these  love  money  not  for  the  good,  real 
or  imaginary,  that  it  may  produce,  but  for  its  own 
sake.  The  love  of  money  grows  with  the  getting 
of  money;  and  the  miser  clutches  his  bag  of  gold  as 
if  it  were  the  god  in  whom  he  trusted.  And  this 
also  is  vanity.  "They  have  slept  their  sleep;  and 
all  the  men  of  riches  have  found  nothing  in  their 
hands."  (Ps.  LXXV;  6.)  Oh!  what  a  rude  awak- 


V  SUNDAY  AFTER  EPIPHANY         305 

ening  shall  be  theirs!  "God  said  to  him:  'thou 
fool,  this  night  do  they  require  thy  soul  of  thee;  and 
whose  shall  those  things  be  which  thou  hast  pro- 
vided?' "  (Luke  XII;  20.) 

The  fourth  class  of  dreamers  consists  of  those 
who  spend  their  lives  in  labour  and  toil;  who  work 
hard  all  day,  and  lie  down  to  rest  at  night  exhausted 
by  the  fatigue  of  the  day;  to  try  and  gain,  by  a  few 
hours'  repose,  renewed  vigour  for  the  coming  day's 
work.  These,  too,  are  unwise ;  for  they  labour  for  the 
bread  that  perisheth;  but  as  for  that  which  endureth 
unto  eternal  life,  they  never  bestow  a  thought  upon 
it.  They  sleep  and  they  dream,  though  their  dream 
be  a  rude  and  rugged  one;  yet  the  labour  of  their 
life  is  but  a  dream  for  all  that.  "And  when  I  turned 
myself  to  all  the  works  which  my  hands  had  wrought, 
and  to  the  labours,  wherein  I  had  laboured  in  vain, 
I  saw  in  all  things  vanity  and  vexation  of  mind. 
(Eccl.  II;  11.)  For,  what  profit  shall  a  man  have 
of  all  his  labour  and  vexation  of  spirit,  with  which 
he  hath  been  tormented  under  the  sun?  All  his 
days  are  full  of  sorrows  and  miseries.  Even  in  the 
night  he  doth  not  rest  in  mind;  and  is  not  this 
vanity?"  (Eccl.  IX;  22,  23.) 

Let  each  one  of  you  judge  for  himself  whether  or 
not  he  has  been  all  his  life  dreaming  one  or  other  of 
these  dreams.  And  all  this  time  that  you  have 
been  dreaming,  while  men  were  asleep,  the  enemy 
has  been  doing  his  work  secretly,  silently,  but 
surely — undoing  all  the  work  of  God's  grace  in  your 
heart;  and  sowing  the  evil  seed  which  shall  yield 


306  SERMONS  FOR  THE  YEAR 

a  bitter  harvest  in  the  day  of  wrath.  What,  then, 
are  we  to  do,  my  dear  brethren?  "Arise,  thou  that 
sleepest."  (Eph.  V;  14.)  Awake  from  your  slum- 
bers; cast  off  your  idle  dreams,  whether  they  be  the 
vain  pursuit  of  knowledge,  of  pleasure,  of  riches,  or 
the  toil  of  daily  life,  and  begin  to  consider  that  one 
great  fact  which  will  confront  you  in  the  hoiu  of 
your  death,  in  all  its  stern  reality :  Eternity. 

Picture  to  yourself  the  condition  of  a  soul  that  is 
just  passing  out  of  this  world.  There  are  thousands, 
at  this  very  moment,  in  this  condition;  and,  what 
they  are  going  through  now,  each  one  of  you  will  go 
through,  sooner  or  later.  The  final  struggle  has 
come.  The  mortal  disease  has  conquered.  It  has 
destroyed  all  the  ramparts  and  bulwarks;  and  it  now 
lays  siege  to  the  very  citadel  of  life.  All  the  vital 
forces  are  summoned  from  the  outposts  to  maintain 
the  unequal  combat.  The  extremities  grow  cold, 
the  eyes,  the  ears,  the  organs  of  speech  and  motion 
grow  faint  and  powerless.  The  whole  framework 
of  the  body  is  in  dissolution.  The  labouring  heart 
alone  toils  on;  but  every  stroke  is  weaker  than  the 
preceding.  The  end  is  near.  The  life  of  that  crea- 
ture is  now  to  be  counted  by  moments.  Meanwhile, 
the  affrighted  soul  experiences  a  new  and  strange 
sensation.  It  has  lost  its  hold  on  the  body;  it  is 
quivering  and  fluttering  in  every  agonizing  gasp. 
It  is,  even  now,  entering  on  a  new  state  of  existence : 
a  disembodied  spirit;  no  longer  dependent  on  the 
body  for  the  exercise  of  its  faculties,  it  comprehends 
itself  in  a  more  perfect  and  intimate  way  than  before. 


V  SUNDAY  AFTER  EPIPHANY         307 

Time  is  no  more.  All  is  now  one  eternal  present. 
The  past,  with  all  its  vicissitudes;  the  future,  with 
all  its  momentous  issues  are  summed  up  in  that  one 
awful  moment,  in  which  the  soul  quits  the  mortal 
body,  and  stands  before  the  judgment  seat  of  God, 
to  be  judged  according  to  its  works.  Such  a  moment 
every  one  of  us  shall  pass  through,  whether  we  die  of 
lingering  disease,  or  suddenly,  as  by  the  lightning's 
stroke.  Every  action  of  the  past  shall  stand  revealed 
in  that  conscious  act  with  which  the  soul  passes  out 
of  this  world.  Then  the  soul  is  brought  face  to  face 
with  realities;  then  it  pierces  through  the  veil  which 
enshrouds  the  eternal  truths;  a  veil  woven  by  our 
own  passions,  our  own  blindness,  our  own  resistance 
to  grace.  In  that  clear  vision,  what  would  it  not 
give  for  a  few  moments  to  repair  the  past ;  to  make 
its  peace  with  God  ?  But  there  are  no  more  moments 
for  that  soul;  it  is  in  eternity.  The  doom  is  pro- 
nounced; the  sentence  is  carried  into  execution. 

But  you,  my  brethren,  by  God's  mercy,  have  still 
time  to  repent  and  amend.  You  slumber;  but  there 
is  still  time  to  awake  before  the  bridegroom  comes. 
How  can  you  sleep  so  tranquilly,  when  you  know 
that  eternity  is  closing  upon  you,  with  swift  and 
certain  step?  How  can  you  sleep,  when  you  know 
that  there  is  one  who  never  sleeps,  who  is  never  idle, 
the  enemy  of  mankind,  who,  whilst  you  sleep,  is  busy 
at  his  work,  filling  your  imaginations  with  those 
pernicious  dreams  of  which  I  have  spoken? 

Let  us,  then,  take  a  warning  from  this  day's  gospel, 
and  awake  to  a  sense  of  our  duties,  to  a  consciousness 


308  SERMONS  FOR  THE  YEAR 

of  our  real  situation.  Let  us  resolve  to  make  a  good 
use  of  this  time  which  is  granted  to  us,  by  laying  up 
a  store  of  good  works,  which,  when  the  time  of  the 
harvest  is  come,  may  be  gathered  into  our  heavenly 
Father's  garner.  That  when  He  shall  send  His  an- 
gels to  discriminate  between  the  good  and  the  bad, 
they  may  find  nothing  in  us  that  is  meet  only  for 
burning,  but  the  precious  grain  of  virtues  and  good 
works,  on  the  fruits  of  which  we  shall  subsist,  in  the 
joys  of  a  happy  eternity. 

FIFTH  SUNDAY  AFTER  EPIPHANY. 

(From  the  Lesson.     Adapted  from  Faber.) 

"Above  all  these  things,  have  charity,  which  is  the 
bond  of  perfection.  And  let  the  peace  of  Christ  rejoice 
in  your  hearts,  wherein  also  you  are  called  in  one 
body."  (Col.  Ill;  14,  15.) 

No  doubt,  my  dear  brethren,  this  world  is  full  of 
misery  and  discomfort ;  and  some  men,  who  are  falsely 
called  philosophers,  considering  this  fact,  have  dared 
to  deny  the  existence  of  an  infinitely  good  God, 
thinking  the  two  existences  incompatible  with  each 
other.  But,  we  shall  find,  when  we  consider  the 
matter  rightly,  that,  for  all  this  misery,  we  have  our- 
selves chiefly  to  blame.  The  world  is  unhappy  be- 
cause charity  is  grown  cold;  because  men  are  unkind. 
Bring  back  charity  and  kindness  into  the  world; 
and  you  will,  at  once,  change  it  into  a  Paradise. 
Like  that  fabulous  substance,  which  had  the  property 
of  converting  into  gold  everything  that  it  touched, 


V  SUNDAY  AFTER  EPIPHANY        309 

kindness  will  alleviate  all  the  miseries  which  are 
incident  to  this  life.  For,  what  is  kindness,  but  the 
overflowing  of  self  upon  others?  When  we  have 
fulfilled  that  second  great  precept  of  the  law:  "thou 
shalt  love  thy  neighbour  as  thyself,"  (Matt.  XXII; 
39)  we  shall  have  done  a  great  deal  to  banish  sorrow 
and  suffering  from  the  world. 

(1)  One  effect  of  kindness  is  the  power  it  has  to 
bring  out  and  develop  what  is  good,  though  latent, 
in  the  character  of  others.     Harshness  and  malev- 
olence poison  the  fountains  of  virtue  hi  the  heart. 
Kindness,  on  the  other  hand,  reveals  and  develops 
all  that    is  good  therein.     It  is  the  most  powerful 
auxiliary  of  good,  in  that  struggle  with  evil  which  is 
carried  on  in  the  recesses  of  every  human  breast.     He 
that  bestows  a  kindness,  and  he  that  receives  it,  are 
both    ennobled    by  the    act.     For,  the  motive  of 
charity  is  supernatural;  it  proceeds  from  the  recogni- 
tion of  the  divine  Image  in  the  soul  of  every  one  of 
God's  creatures.     The  recipient,  therefore,  is  led  to 
recognize  that  Image  in  himself.     It  awakes  his  self- 
respect;  it  makes  him  ashamed  of  his  faults;  and  it 
furnishes  him  with  a  powerful  inducement  to  culti- 
vate those  virtues,  which  will  render  him  the  still 
more  perfect  image  of  his  Creator. 

(2)  Again,  kindness  lessens  the  number  of  sins.  No 
one  ever  had  a  kind  action  done  to  him,  who  did  not,  in 
consequence,  forbear  from  some  sin,  which  he  would 
otherwise  have  committed.     Kindness  is  like  the 
advanced  guard  of  the  grace  of  God ;  it  clears  the  way ; 
and  prepares  the  heart  to  receive  that  precious  gift. 


310  SERMONS  FOR  THE  YEAR 

How  many  are  there,  who  have  long  resisted  grace, 
who  have  become  hardened  in  sin,  and  yet,  at  last, 
have  softened  by  the  genial  touch  of  kindness  ?  How 
many  conversions  have  begun  by  the  reception  of 
acts  of  kindness,  which,  if  not  unexpected,  at  least 
touched  the  heart,  through  the  feeling  of  their  being 
undeserved?  Doubtless,  the  fear  of  the  I/ord  is  the 
beginning  of  that  wisdom  which  we  call  conversion ; 
(Ps.  CX;  10)  but  men  must  be  frightened  in  a  kindly 
way;  or  the  fright  will  only  harden  them  more,  and 
make  them  unbelievers.  Kindness  has  converted 
more  sinners  than  zeal,  eloquence  or  learning;  and 
these  have  never  converted  any  one,  unless  they 
were  kind  also. 

(3)  A  third  effect  of  kindness  is  that  it  encour- 
ages others  in  their  efforts  after  good.  We  all  know, 
by  experience,  how  weary  we  are  apt  to  become  in 
the  practice  of  virtue  and  in  the  carrying  out  of  some 
good  work,  unless  we  are  encouraged  by  the  sympa- 
thy of  others.  The  human  heart  cannot  stand  alone. 
It  needs  to  be  propped  up;  it  wants  something  to 
cling  to.  Of  course,  the  grace  of  God  is  sufficient 
for  every  one.  But  how  many  are  there,  who,  when 
temptations  surround  them,  and  sadness,  like  a  black 
cloud,  settles  down  upon  them,  are  in  danger  of  miss- 
ing that  grace,  and  falling  into  sin,  if  some  kindly 
voice,  or  even  look,  does  not  cheer  them  with  a 
glimpse  of  sunshine,  and  restore  the  equilibrium  of 
their  minds,  so  that  they  are  enabled  to  co-operate 
with  the  grace  of  God,  and  overcome  the  temptation. 


V  SUNDAY  AFTER  EPIPHANY        311 

(4)  Again,  kindness  is  catching.  No  kind  action 
ever  stopped  with  itself;  one  kind  action  leads  to 
another.  It  throws  out  roots  in  all  directions,  which 
spring  up  and  bloom  and  bear  fruit  a  hundredfold. 
Its  especial  work  is  to  make  those  kind  to  whom  we 
have  been  kind.  It  is  not  in  human  nature  to  resist 
the  action  of  kindness.  The  most  savage  natures 
must  succumb  to  its  kindly  influence.  Kindness  is 
immortal;  an  act  of  kindness  never  dies.  Like  the 
charity  from  which  it  springs,  it  never  falleth  away; 
it  is  never  made  void.  (I  Cor.  XIII;  8.)  As  when 
a  stone  is  thrown  into  the  pool,  a  circle  is  formed, 
which  widens  into  another,  and  still  another,  and  so 
on,  until  every  part  of  the  surface  feels  the  influence 
of  that  gentle  undulation;  so  does  an  act  of  kindness 
go  on  propagating  itself  for  ages;  and  not  until  the 
day  of  judgment,  shall  we  know  how  much  we  may 
have  done  by  one  kind  word  or  look  or  act ;  nor,  alas ! 
how  much  good  we  have  omitted  to  do,  through  the 
want  of  kindness. 

We  have  hitherto  considered  what  kindness  can 
do  for  others;  let  us  now  consider  what  it  can  do  for 
ourselves.  For  the  laws  of  God  are  so  beautifully 
harmonized  that  we  cannot  better  promote  our  own 
happiness  than  by  striving  to  procure  that  of  others. 
And  (1),  kindness  benefits  us  by  overcoming  selfish- 
ness, which  is  the  greatest  enemy  of  our  spiritual 
interests.  It  may  seem  strange,  but  so  it  is,  that 
self-love  or  selfishness  should  be  so  fatal  to  our  own 
welfare.  Our  Lord  has  said:  "He  that  loveth  his 
life  shall  lose  it;  and  he  that  hateth  his  life  in  this 


312  SERMONS  FOR  THE  YEAR 

world,  keepeth  it  unto  life  eternal."  (John  XII ;  25.) 
Self-love,  then,  is  the  bane  of  supernatural  life. 
Hence,  kindness,  by  constantly,  on  all  occasions, 
seeking  the  good  of  others,  and  preferring  their  inter- 
ests to  our  own,  contributes  more  than  anything 
else  to  kill  inordinate  selfishness  in  ourselves;  and, 
consequently  promotes  our  true  interests,  by  ad- 
vancing us  on  the  way  of  perfection. 

(2)  Another  effect  of  kindness  on  ourselves,  is 
one  that  is  alluded  to  by  the  apostle,  in  this  day's 
lesson;  where  he  says:  "let  the  peace  of  Christ  rejoice 
in  your  hearts . ' '     Kindness  is  a  never-failing  fountain 
of  joy  in  the  heart.     Does  not  experience  tell  us, 
that  inward  happiness  invariably  follows  an  act  of 
kindness?    And  what  can  be  more  conducive  to  our 
good  than  that  joy  which  is  one  of  the  fruits  of  the 
Spirit  of  charity,  Who  is  poured  out  in  our  heaits? 
There  is  no  joy  so  pure,  so  lasting,  so  easily  pur- 
chased, as  that  which  flows  from  kindness. 

(3)  Again,  kindness  does  much  to  aid  the  develop- 
ment of  all  the  virtues,  and  especially  of  humility. 
It  is  easier  to  see  that  it  is  so  than  to  see  why  it  is  so. 
But  experience  tells  us  that  the  proud  are  not  kind ; 
whilst  humility  and  kindness  go  hand  in  hand.     Our 
perfection  consists  in  imitating  our  blessed  I/)rd; 
and  the  special  lessons  we  are  to  learn  of  Him  are 
the  exceeding  charity  with  which  He  has  loved  us, 
and  His  meekness  and  humility  of  heart.     (Matt. 
XI;  29.)     For,  as  was  said  just  now,  kindness  is  the 
overflowing  of  self  upon  others;  whilst  pride  is  the 
concentration  of  self  upon  self.     In  short,  it  would 


V  SUNDAY  AFTER  EPIPHANY        313 

be  hard  to  say  what  good  is  not  done  by  kindness, 
in  regard  of  those  who  exercise  it.  It  softens  those 
asperities  of  character  which  are  the  cause  of  so 
much  that  is  disagreeable  in  the  intercourse  of  daily 
life.  It  makes  us  more  considerate  for  the  feelings 
of  others.  It  prompts  us,  on  all  occasions,  to  weigh 
and  balance  all  our  thoughts,  words  and  actions,  so 
as  not  to  give  offence.  It  sheds  a  glow  of  warmth,  of 
light,  of  sweetness,  over  all  the  relations  of  life. 
And,  above  all,  it  prepares  us  to  walk  in  that  path 
which  alone  leads  to  heaven;  to  deny  ourselves,  to 
take  up  our  cross,  and  follow  our  Lord. 

Such,  my  brethren,  are  a  few  of  the  thoughts  which 
suggest  themselves  to  one  who  meditates  on  this  sub- 
ject. I  trust  that  you  will  carry  away  with  you,  as 
some  little  fruit  of  this  meditation,  at  least  a  resolu- 
tion to  cultivate  the  habit  of  kindness  in  your  inter- 
course with  others.  Not  to  be  satisfied  with  the 
letter  of  the  law  of  charity,  but  to  clothe  it  with  the 
beauty  and  the  grace  of  the  Spirit  of  Jesus.  People 
may  be  charitable,  and  not  kind;  merciful,  and  not 
kind;  self-denying,  and  not  kind.  If  only  we  can 
add  to  these  virtues  the  grace  of  kindness,  we  shall 
then  have  accomplished  much  for  the  edification  of 
our  neighbour,  and  for  our  own  spiritual  progress  in 
piety.  Bear  in  mind  the  definition  of  Christian 
charity,  which  is  given  us  by  the  apostle:  "Charity 
is  patient;  is  kind;  charity  envieth  not;  dealeth  not 
perversely;  is  not  puffed  up;  is  not  ambitious ;  seeketh 
not  her  own;  is  not  provoked  to  anger;  thinketh  no 
evil;  beareth  all  things;  believeth  all  things;  hopeth 


314  SERMONS  FOR  THE  YEAR 

all  things;  endureth  all  things;  charity  never  falleth 
away."  (I  Cor.  XIII;  4,  8.)  For  "God  is  charity;" 
(I  John  IV;  16)  and  they  that  walk  in  charity  have 
put  on  the  divine  Nature;  and  by  persevering  in  that 
course,  shall  merit  to  be  made  partakers  of  the  divine 
Bliss  for  all  eternity. 


FIFTH  SUNDAY  AFTER  EPIPHANY. 

(Another  Sermon.    Abridged  from  Bourdaloue.) 

"But  while  men  were  asleep,  his  enemy  came,  and 
oversowed  cockle  among  the  wheat."  (Matt.  XIII; 
25.) 

As  tares  were  sown  among  the  wheat,  in  the  fields 
of  the  farmers,  so,  in  the  Church  of  God,  shiners  live 
along  with  the  just,  and  live  promiscuously.  It  was 
during  the  night,  when  men  were  asleep,  that  the 
enemy  came  to  spoil  the  field.  And  it  is  during  this 
mortal  life  which  is  for  us  a  time  of  darkness,  a  sort 
of  murky  night,  that  the  common  enemy  of  mankind 
commits  his  ravages,  and  raises  up  in  the  bosom  of 
the  Church  this  sad  mixture  of  the  impious  and  the 
reprobate,  along  with  the  elect.  "While  men  were 
asleep."  As  the  just,  then,  are  under  the  unhappy 
necessity  of  consorting  with  the  wicked  in  this 
life,  it  behooves  them  to  be  instructed  how  they 
ought  to  comport  themselves  in  their  company.  The 
answer  to  this  question  may  be  comprised  under  two 
heads.  Our  commerce  with  sinners  ought  to  be 
measured  by  the  example  which  God  has  given  us 
in  this  parable.  That  is  to  say,  God  tolerates  sinners 


V  SUNDAY  AFTER  EPIPHANY        315 

by  a  sort  of  necessity,  which  follows  on  the  Provi- 
dence which  He  has  ordained.  Hence,  we  ought  to 
mix  with  sinners,  not  from  choice  or  approval,  but 
through  the  necessity  of  our  condition.  In  the  sec- 
ond place,  God  manifests  His  Glory  even  in  sinners, 
and  is  ever  working  for  their  conversion.  Such  also 
is  our  duty;  that  we  should  render  our  conversation 
with  shiners  profitable  both  to  ourselves  and  them. 
(1)  God  is  with  sinners,  and  tolerates  them,  not 
indeed  by  any  special  protection,  or  the  communica- 
tion of  His  Gifts,  but  as  the  great  Creator  Who 
watches  over  the  government  of  the  world  and  rules 
the  destiny  of  every  creature.  He  is  with  them  by 
His  divine  Immensity,  of  which  He  cannot  divest 
Himself,  and  which  renders  Him  omnipotent.  From 
which  we  are  to  learn  that  we  ought  to  communi- 
cate with  shiners  only  so  far  as  necessity  compels  us. 
For,  manifestly,  there  are  certain  bonds;  as  for  ex- 
ample, those  between  husband  and  wife,  parents  and 
children,  masters  and  servants,  which  one  is  not  at 
liberty  to  break.  But  when  we  are  under  no  neces- 
sity of  communicating  with  them,  it  is  our  duty  to 
shun  them  and  separate  ourselves  from  them.  Such 
is  the  advice  of  St.  Paul:  "We  charge  you,  brethren, 
in  the  Name  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  that  you  with- 
draw yourselves  from  every  brother  walking  dis- 
orderly." (II  Thess.  Ill;  6.)  Such,  too,  was  the 
practice  of  holy  David:  "I  have  not  sat  with  the 
council  of  vanity;  neither  will  I  go  in  with  the  doers 
of  unjust  things;  I  have  hated  the  assembly  of  the 
malignant;  and  with  the  wicked  I  will  not  sit." 


316  SERMONS  FOR  THE  YEAR 

(Ps.  XXV;  4,  5.)  On  the  same  principle,  God  for- 
bade the  children  of  Israel  to  have  any  communica- 
tion with  the  idolatrous  and  impure  nations  which 
surrounded  them.  Hence,  in  our  conduct  we  ought 
to  begin  now  that  which  will  effectually  take  place 
at  the  general  resurrection — the  separation  of  the 
elect  from  the  reprobate.  And  it  is  by  this  separa- 
tion that  the  just,  as  it  were,  inaugurate  their  glory 
and  advance  their  perfection  here  on  earth.  Thus, 
God  commanded  Joshua  to  sanctify  the  people  by 
the  excommunication  of  the  perfidious  Achan.  (Jos. 
VII.)  And  the  evangelist  tells  us  that,  at  the  mo- 
ment when  Judas  quitted  the  supper-chamber, 
our  Lord,  as  it  were  relieved  of  a  great  burden,  ex- 
claimed:  "  Now  is  the  Son  of  Man  glorified . ' '  (John . 
XIII;  31.)  It  is  on  this  ground  that  the  Church 
ex-communicates  certain  sinners.  If  she  does  not 
strike  all  shiners  with  her  anathema,  it  does  not  fol- 
low that  we  are  permitted  to  associate  with  those 
not  under  censure;  for,  independently  of  the  Church's 
prohibition,  certain  grave  reasons  forbid  unneces- 
sary intercourse  with  all  notorious  sinners.  For 
we  cannot  associate  with  them  without  being  guilty 
of  direct  contempt  of  God — without  becoming  a 
scandal  to  our  brethren — without  detriment  to  our 
salvation.  It  is  a  direct  contempt  of  God,  because 
we  ally  ourselves  with  His  enemies.  Such  was  the 
accusation  of  the  prophet  against  the  pious  King 
Joshaphat,  when  he  entered  into  an  alliance  with 
the  impious  Achab:  "Thou  helpest  the  ungodly, 
and  thou  art  joined  in  friendship  with  them  that 


V  SUNDAY  AFTER  EPIPHANY        317 

hate  the  I/ord;  and  therefore  thou  didst  deserve 
indeed  the  wrath  of  the  U>rd."  (II  Par.  XIX;  2.) 
Again,  it  is  a  scandal  to  our  neighbour;  for  what 
opinion  can  be  formed  of  one  who  is  known  to  fre- 
quent suspicious  company?  It  is  destruction  to 
oneself;  for  who  is  ignorant  of  the  inevitable  conse- 
quences of  keeping  bad  company?  Thus,  the 
Psalmist,  speaking  of  the  Jews,  says:  "They  were 
mingled  among  the  heathens  and  learned  their 
works."  (Ps.  CV;  35.)  Why  does  the  Church  for- 
bid and  annul  the  marriage  of  one  of  the  faithful 
with  an  infidel,  except  on  account  of  this  danger? 
Hence,  St.  Paul  says:  "Bear  not  the  yoke  with  un- 
believers." (II  Cor.  VI;  14.)  And  Tertullian  says: 
"Who  does  not  know  that  the  faith  becomes  ob- 
literated, day  by  day,  through  intercourse  with  in- 
fidels." What  is  the  cause,  that  the  age  in  which 
we  live  is  so  corrupt;  that  young  people  of  both 
sexes  are  so  dissolute;  that  the  sacred  bonds  of 
marriage  are  so  atrociously  violated?  It  is  owing 
to  what  is  called  'society' — familiar  intercourse  with 
the  profane  world. 

(11)  Nevertheless,  as  we  learn  from  this  par- 
able, we  must  live  with  the  wicked  as  long  as  we 
live.  "Otherwise,"  as  St.  Paul  says:  "you  must 
needs  go  out  of  this  world."  (I  Cor.  V;  10.)  Hence, 
in  the  second  place,  we  observe  that,  as  God  knows 
how  to  manifest  His  Glory,  even  in  sinners,  and 
labour  for  their  conversion,  so  we  also  should  learn 
from  that  example  to  improve  the  wicked  who  live 
amongst  us;  and  derive  spiritual  profit  ourselves 


318  SERMONS  FOR  THE  YEAR 

from  the  wicked  with  whom  we  are  compelled  to 
live.  God  is  glorified,  even  in  and  by  sinners,  as 
St.  Augustine  shows  with  admirable  force  and  clear- 
ness: "What  the  wicked  do  is  harmful  to  them- 
selves; they  do  not  gainsay  the  goodness  of  God. 
God  makes  a  good  use  of  sinners,  and  He  would  not 
permit  them  to  exist  if  He  could  not  make  use  of 
them.  For,  as  their  iniquity  consists  in  abusing 
God's  good  works,  so  His  Justice  consists  in  making 
a  good  use  of  their  evil  works.  To  the  impure, 
God  Himself  is  not  pure;  whereas,  sin  which  is  im- 
purity itself,  purifies  itself,  as  it  were,  in  God's  re- 
gard, by  becoming  the  subject-matter  of  His  Glory." 
Then  he  goes  on  to  show  how  God  is  glorified  in 
various  sorts  of  sinners.  "Does  He  not  make  use 
of  the  Gentiles  for  the  subject  of  His  operations? 
Of  heretics,  for  the  proof  of  His  doctrines?  Of 
schismatics,  for  the  evidence  of  His  stability?  Of 
the  Jews,  for  an  illustration  of  the  beauty  of  the 
new  dispensation?  He  made  use  of  the  Romans  to 
wreak  vengence  on  Jerusalem;  of  tyrants  and  per- 
secutors to  provide  Himself  with  martyrs,  that  is, 
witnesses  on  earth;  and  to  fill  heaven  with  saints." 
When,  therefore,  we  find  ourselves  mixed  up  with 
shiners,  let  us  also  seek  to  profit  by  them  for  our  own 
sanctification  and  perfection.  And,  in  fact,  what 
abundant  opportunities  do  they  not  furnish  us  with 
of  exercising  patience,  charity,  and  humility,  the 
chief est  of  all  the  virtues? 

But,  unhappily,  we  run  altogether  counter  to  the 
designs  of  Providence.     Instead  of  profiting  by  the 


V  SUNDAY  AFTER  EPIPHANY  319 

sins  of  others,  as  we  might  and  ought,  we  allow 
sinners  to  become  a  cause  of  scandal  and  ruin  to  us. 
Thus,  a  wife  who  has  to  live  with  a  dissolute  hus- 
band, with  one  who  is  violent  or  intemperate,  might 
sanctify  herself  and  perhaps  him,  by  her  sweetness 
and  submission;  whereas,  she  loses  all  the  merit, 
and  imperils  her  own  salvation,  by  recrimination, 
wrangling  and  provocation.  And  so  in  similar 
cases.  Hence,  we  may  judge  how  unreasonable  is 
the  conduct  of  those  who  allege  that  they  could  lead 
a  better  life  in  some  other  state  than  that  in  which 
God  has  placed  them.  We  can  sanctify  ourselves 
best  hi  that  state,  because  it  is  for  that  state  that 
God  has  prepared  for  us  the  special  helps  of  His 
grace;  and  because,  in  that  state,  we  shall  furnish 
the  most  solid  proofs  of  our  fidelity. 

I  said  just  now  that  God  not  only  manifests  His 
Glory  in  sinners,  but  also  labours  incessantly  for 
their  conversion.  He  is  ever  calling  them  to  re- 
pentance, and  furnishing  them  with  means  and  re- 
sources of  His  grace.  It  is  also  our  duty  to  seek  to 
reckim  sinners.  This  duty  is  both  general  and 
particular.  Charity  obliges  us  all,  as  Christians,  to 
assist  one  another  by  salutary  advice,  by  prudent 
remonstrance,  by  good  example.  There  is  also  a 
particular  and  special  duty,  incumbent  on  certain 
states.  As,  for  example,  on  the  part  of  a  father,  to 
correct  a  son  who  is  undisciplined  and  carried  away 
by  his  passions ;  on  the  part  of  a  mother,  to  correct 
a  daughter  who  is  frivolous,  and  too  much  attached 
to  the  world ;  on  the  part  of  a  master,  to  correct  a  ser- 


320  SERMONS  FOR  THE  YEAR 

vant  whose  conduct  is  irregular;  and  finally,  on  the 
part  of  sinners  themselves,  to  repair  the  scandal 
they  have  given  by  their  past  excesses. 

Let  us  then  strive,  my  brethren,  each  in  his  own 
sphere,  to  convert  the  tares  which  spring  up  in  the 
field  of  the  Church,  into  the  good  grain  of  Christ; 
that  we  may  all  be  worthy  to  be  gathered  into  the 
store-house  of  heaven. 


SIXTH  SUNDAY  AFTER  EPIPHANY. 

(From  the  Gospel.) 

''The  kingdom  of  heaven  is  like  to  a  grain  of  mustard 
seed:'  (Matt.  XIII;  31.) 

The  field  in  which  the  grain  of  mustard  seed  is 
sown  is  evidently  our  own  soul,  and  the  sower  i? 
God,  Who  first  efficaciously  moves  us  by  the  in- 
spirations of  His  grace;  and  secondarily,  ourselves, 
who  co-operate  with  that  grace.  But  why  is  the 
Kingdom  of  heaven  likened  to  mustard  seed,  which 
is  the  least  of  all  seeds?  The  gospel  insinuates  that 
the  resemblance  lies  in  the  comparison  .between  the 
small  beginnings  of  God's  grace,  and  the  growth  of 
merit  which  thence  ensues.  Or,  as  the  apostle  ex- 
presses it:  "the  glory  to  come  which  shall  be  re- 
vealed in  us."  (Rom.  VIII;  18.)  Again,  the  para- 
ble signifies  the  nothingness  of  our  own  nature, 
faculties  and  powers,  as  compared  with  the  all- 
powerful  effects  of  God's  grace,  which  alone  works 
in  us  both  to  will  and  to  accomplish  (Phil.  II;  13), 


VI  SUNDAY  AFTER  EPIPHANY.       321 

"for  by  the  grace  of  God,  we  are  what  we  are."  (I 
Cor.  XV;  10.)  The  soul  of  man  is  indeed  the  soil 
in  which  the  seed  is  sown,  and  must  contribute  its 
part.  Hence,  it  requires  constant  care  and  cultiva- 
tion, to  enable  the  seed  to  germinate  and  fructify. 
But  it  is  still  the  intrinsic  vital  heat  and  force  of  the 
seed  which,  developing  its  latent  energies,  is  the 
primary  and  principal  cause  of  the  effect  produced. 
The  lesson,  then,  which  we  are  to  derive  from 
this  day's  gospel,  is  the  obligation  under  which  we 
live,  of  having  all  the  faculties  of  our  soul  apt  and 
prepared  for  the  operations  of  divine  grace.  And 
it  would  seem  that  our  Lord  wished  to  express  the 
universality  of  the  workings  of  grace  through  the 
whole  of  our  nature,  when  He  subsequently  com- 
pared the  Kingdom  of  heaven  to  the  leavening  of 
three  measures  of  meal;  as  though  signifying  there- 
by the  sanctification  by  grace  of  the  three  powers 
of  the  soul — imagination,  understanding  and  will. 
The  one  great  commandment  of  the  law  is,  that  we 
should  love  the  Lord  our  God  with  all  our  heart, 
with  all  our  soul,  with  all  our  strength  and  with  all 
our  mind.  He  who  fulfills  this  commandment  is 
perfect.  Now,  my  brethren,  there  are  few  who 
arrive  at  perfection;  but  every  one  is  bound  to  strive 
towards  it;  and,  consequently,  every  one  is  bound 
to  do  his  utmost  to  fulfill  this  Commandment.  How 
are  we  to  do  this  but  by  corresponding  to  God's 
grace?  This  is  the  mustard-seed,  small  and  con- 
temptible in  the  eyes  of  the  world ;  but  which  when 
fostered  and  developed  in  a  heart  prepared  to  re- 


322  SERMONS  FOR  THE  YEAR 

ceive  it,  grows  into  a  tree  of  perfection,  bearing  the 
blossoms  and  the  fruits  of  all  virtues  and  merits. 
The  world  despises  what  it  does  not  see  nor  under- 
stand; and  consequently  it  makes  no  account  of 
this  precious  seed,  and  is  indifferent  to  the  workings 
of  divine  grace,  whilst  the  true  Christian  values 
it  above  all  earthly  treasures.  And,  however  little 
and  insignificant  he  may  be  in  the  eyes  of  the  world, 
if  he  has  this  precious  treasure  of  divine  grace  buried 
in  his  heart,  he  is  rich  indeed,  and  great  in  the  sight 
of  God. 

The  great  object  of  a  Christian  should  be  to  lead  a 
supernatural  life;  by  which  is  meant,  to  perform  all 
one's  actions  from  a  supernatural  motive;  that  is,  to 
please  God  and  to  do  His  holy  Will.  This  is  the 
teaching  of  the  apostle:  "Whether  you  eat  or  drink, 
or  whatever  else  you  do,  do  all  to  the  Glory  of  God." 
(I  Cor.  X;  31.)  Faith  teaches  us  that  we  were  not 
made  for  this  world,  but  for  heaven.  It  teaches  us 
also  that  we  cannot  do  anything  of  ourselves  to- 
wards that  end,  but  by  the  grace  of  God.  Conse- 
quently, all  our  actions,  however  great  they  may 
seem  in  the  eyes  of  the  world,  if  they  are  not  directed 
to  this  supernatural  end,  are  absolutely  worthless. 
Whereas,  the  least  action,  even  a  momentary 
thought  or  ejaculation,  that  is  leavened  with  the 
grace  of  God,  with  a  supernatural  motive,  merits 
an  eternal  reward.  From  which  it  evidently  fol- 
lows that  it  is  an  immeasurably  greater  thing  to 
give  an  alms  to  the  poor  for  Christ's  sake,  than  to 
make  great  scientific  discoveries — to  shed  one  tear 


VI  SUNDAY  AFTER  EPIPHANY       323 

of  true  contrition,  than  to  discover  the  sources  of 
the  Nile — to  bless  oneself  with  true  devotion,  than 
to  destroy  or  build  up  an  empire.  No  doubt,  the 
world  would  regard  such  statements  as  wild  and  in- 
coherent ravings;  to  a  man  of  the  world,  such  senti- 
ments are  utterly  unintelligible;  but  then  we  know 
that  "the  wisdom  of  this  world  is  foolishness  with 
God ;  that  God  has  chosen  the  foolish  things  of  this 
world  that  He  may  confound  the  wise;  and  the 
weak  things  of  the  world  that  He  may  confound  the 
strong;  and  the  things  that  are  not,  that  He  might 
bring  to  naught  things  that  are."  (I  Cor.  I;  27,  28.) 
Indeed,  if  there  be  any  truth  in  revelation,  then 
what  I  have  said  must  be  as  true  and  incontrovert- 
ible as  the  existence  of  God  Himself. 

But,  if  these  things  are  true,  how  is  it  we  do  not 
practically  show  our  conviction  of  their  truth — that 
our  lives  are  not  more  supernatural  than  they  are? 
Why  are  we  so  remiss  in  approaching  the  Sacra- 
ments? So  distracted  in  time  of  prayer?  Why  do 
we  perform  our  daily  actions  from  vain,  worldly 
and  imperfect  motives?  The  explanation  is,  that 
we  allow  ourselves  to  be  carried  away  by  the  current 
of  the  world's  example.  We  are  overcome  by  what 
the  wise  man  calls  the  'fascination  of  frivolity.' 
(Wisd.  IV;  12.)  We  read  of,  and  we  hear  of,  and 
we  admire,  the  example  of  the  saints;  but  we  think 
it  quite  useless  to  attempt  to  imitate  them,  as  well 
as  to  admire.  We  forget  that  sanctity  consists  in 
little  things ;  its  beginnings  are  as  a  gram  of  mustard- 
seed.  This  is  the  lesson  of  this  day's  gospel.  True 


324  SERMONS  FOR  THE  YEAR 

and  solid  sanctity  consists,  not  in  doing  great  and 
heroic  acts,  but  in  doing  our  ordinary  actions  well; 
in  being  ever  on  our  guard  against  the  influence  of 
worldly  motives  and  sensual  inclinations;  in  looking 
singly  and  solely  to  the  supernatural  end  for  which 
we  exist.  "The  light  of  thy  body  is  thy  eye.  If 
thine  eye  be  single,  thy  whole  body  shall  be  light- 
some. But  if  thine  eye  be  evil,  thy  whole  body 
shall  be  darksome.  If,  then,  the  light  that  is  in 
thee  is  darkness,  the  darkness  itself  how  great  shall 
it  be?"  (Matt.  VI;  22,  23.)  No  doubt  this  re- 
quires a  constant  effort  on  our  part.  But  then,  we 
have  been  told  that  the  life  of  a  Christian  on  earth 
is  a  continual  warfare.  (Job.  VII;  1.)  In  this 
spiritual  warfare  there  is  no  standing  still;  we  must 
either  advance  or  fall  back.  If  wearied  out  with 
our  own  weakness,  tepidity  and  meanness;  we  re- 
linquish the  contest,  and  are  content  to  remain  as 
we  are,  we  shall  undoubtedly  begin  to  lose  ground. 
We  are  in  the  position  of  a  man  who  is  rowing 
against  a  strong  current.  No  one  can  tell  the  exact 
amount  of  force  which  will  keep  him  motionless.  He 
must  either  stem  the  current,  and  advance  against  it, 
or  he  will  certainly  be  carried  back  by  it.  And,  whilst 
his  own  exertions  are  intermittent,  and  painfully 
conscious,  the  retrograde  force  acts  ceaselessly  and 
unconsciously.  The  great  danger,  then,  which  we 
have  to  fear  is  dejection,  arising  from  the  conscious- 
ness of  our  own  weakness.  It  is  true,  we  cannot  too 
often  meditate  on  our  own  weakness.  But  we  must 
not  stop  there;  but  go  on  to  meditate  upon  the  all- 


VI  SUNDAY  AFTER  EPIPHANY        325 

powerful  grace  of  God,  in  Whom  we  can  do  all 
things;  upon  the  divine  virtue  of  that  small  grain 
of  mustard-seed,  which,  when  it  is  grown  up,  becomes 
a  tree,  so  that  the  birds  of  the  air  come  and  dwell  in 
the  branches  thereof.  Thus  shall  we  become  grounded 
in  two  essential  branches  of  Christian  perfection — 
humility,  and  the  spirit  of  prayer;  humility,  founded 
upon  the  conviction  of  our  own  nothingness ;  and  the 
spirit  of  prayer,  founded  upon  our  confidence  in  God's 
grace. 

From  this  point  of  view,  we  can  make  our  very 
failings  instrumental  towards  perfection;  and,  with 
St.  Paul,  we  can  rejoice  in  our  infirmities,  that 
the  power  of  Christ  may  dwell  in  us.  (II  Cor.  XII; 
9.)  The  real  obstacle,  therefore,  to  our  perfection  is, 
not  our  infirmities,  but  the  giving  up,  in  consequence 
of  them,  of  the  good  resolutions  which  we  have  made; 
and  solid  spiritual  progress  consists  rather  in  being 
always  in  arms  against  the  enemy  than  in  celebrating 
a  triumph.  It  is  a  common  saying  that  hell  is  paved 
with  good  intentions.  Whether  this  be  true  or  not, 
it  is  certainly  true  that  heaven  is  paved  with  the 
same  material;  for,  though  we  may  be  lost,  through 
giving  up  our  resolutions,  yet,  the  greater  part  of 
mankind  must  be  saved  only  by  continually  renew- 
ing their  resolutions,  in  spite  of  repeated  relapses. 
Hence,  the  difference  between  ourselves  and  the  saints 
does  not  arise  from  heroic  acts  and  stupendous  gifts, 
but  from  small  and  apparently  trivial  things,  as  in- 
significant as  the  mustard-seed;  but  which,  small  as 


326  SERMONS  FOR  THE  YEAR 

they  are,  are  productive  of  great  results  in  the  spirit- 
ual life. 

To  conclude,  then,  let  us  repeat,  from  our  hearts, 
that  petition  of  the  Lord's  Prayer:  "Thy  Kingdom 
come."  (Matt.  VI;  10.)  And,  whilst  we  repeat  it, 
let  not  our  actions  belie  our  words :  but  let  us  strive 
to  form  that  Kingdom  in  our  hearts,  by  faithful 
correspondence  with  divine  grace,  by  frequent  and 
fervent  reception  of  the  holy  sacraments,  by  perse- 
verance in  prayer.  Then  will  that  divine  seed,  which 
is  small  and  contemptible  in  the  eyes  of  the  world, 
germinate  in  our  hearts,  and  grow  up  into  the  stately 
and  beautiful  tree  of  Christian  perfection,  bearing 
the  imperishable  fruits  of  eternal  life.  "To  him  that 
overcometh,  I  will  give  to  eat  of  the  Tree  of  Life, 
which  is  in  the  Paradise  of  my  God."  (Apoc,  II;  7.) 


SIXTH  SUNDAY  AFTER  EPIPHANY. 

(From  the  Lesson.) 

"For  our  gospel  hath  not  been  unto  you  in  word 
only,  but. in  power  also."  (I  Thess.  1,  5.) 

If  the  apostle  of  Jesus  Christ,  my  dear  brethren, 
were  to  come  upon  the  earth  now,  to  visit  us, 
would  he  be  able  to  congratulate  us  upon  our  con- 
stancy in  the  faith,  as  he  does  the  faithful  of  Thessa- 
lonica  in  the  lesson  of  this  Sunday?  Let  your  own 
consciences  dictate  the  answer.  It  would  seem, 
rather,  that  the  time  was  come  of  which  our  Lord 
speaks,  when  He  says:  "the  Son  of  Man  when  He 


VI  SUNDAY  AFTER  EPIPHANY        327 

cometh  (that  is,  at  the  end  of  the  world,)  shall  He 
find,  think  you,  faith  upon  the  earth?"  (Luke  XVIII ; 
8.) 

And  yet,  what  greater  spiritual  calamity  can  hap- 
pen to  us  than  weakness  of  faith?  Faith  is  the 
foundation  upon  which  the  edifice  of  Christian  piety 
is  built.  If  the  foundation  is  weak  and  insecure,  the 
whole  building  will  totter  and  crumble  to  pieces. 
From  weakness  of  faith  arise  all  the  miseries,  which, 
at  present,  overwhelm  the  world,  the  Church,  and  th* 
individual  souls  of  men. 

In  order,  then,  that  we  may  preserve  ourselves 
from  these  calamities,  and  foster  in  our  souls  the  all- 
important  gift  of  faith,  let  us  meditate  upon  this 
virtue,  and  consider  what  it  is  able  to  do,  what  are  its 
effects  upon  the  Heart  of  God,  and  upon  the  heart 
of  man. 

We  have  infallible  assurance  of  the  power  of  faith 
over  the  Heart  of  God.  God  Himself  has  assured  us 
that  He  will  refuse  nothing  to  the  prayer  of  faith. 
"All  things  whatsoever  you  shall  ask  in  prayer,  be- 
lieving, you  shall  receive."  (Matt.  XXI;  22.)  Or, 
as  it  is  expressed  hi  another  gospel:  "All  things, 
whatsoever  you  ask,  when  you  pray,  believe  that 
you  shall  receive,  and  they  shall  come  unto  you." 
(Mark  XI;  24.)  When  the  apostles  wondered  at 
our  Lord's  miracles,  He  gave  them  to  understand 
that  nothing  was  impossible  to  faith.  "Have  the 
faith  of  God,"  He  said;  that  is,  a  faith  worthy  of  the 
God  Whom  you  adore,  and,  with  this  faith,  "Amen, 
I  say  to  you,  that  whosoever  shall  say  to  this  moun- 


328  SERMONS  FOR  THE  YEAR 

tain:  be  thou  removed,  and  be  cast  into  the  sea;  and 
shall  not  stagger  in  his  heart,  but  believe,  that  what- 
soever he  saith  shall  be  done;  it  shall  be  done  unto 
him."  (Mark  XI;  22,  23.)  Here  we  see  that  the 
only  condition  which  our  Lord  demands  is  unhesi- 
tating faith.  If  we  fulfill  that  one  condition,  the 
Omnipotent  Himself  is  constrained  to  grant  whatso- 
ever we  ask  of  Him.  From  this  explicit  teaching 
of  our  blessed  Lord,  let  us  turn  to  the  no  less  emphatic 
words  of  His  Apostle. 

St.  James,  speaking  on  the  same  subject,  says: 
"If  any  of  you  want  wisdom;"  and  by  wisdom  he 
means  that  relish  for  spiritual  things  which  leads  us 
to  despise  earthly  things,  and  to  centre  all  our  hopes 
and  aspirations  on  the  life  to  come.  And,  surely, 
without  this  gift,  we  shall  never  attain  that  happi- 
ness. How,  then,  are  we  to  obtain  that  gift?  He 
says:  "If  any  of  you  want  wisdom,  let  him  ask  of 
God,  Who  giveth  to  all  men  abundantly,  and  up- 
braideth  not."  But  then  he  opposes  an  absolute 
condition:  "but  let  him  ask  in  faith,  nothing  waver- 
ing." Without  this  condition,  our  prayers  will  be 
of  no  avail.  "For  he  that  wavereth  is  like  a  wave 
of  the  sea,  which  is  moved  and  carried  about  by  the 
wind;  therefore,  let  not  that  man  think  that  he  shall 
receive  anything  of  the  Lord."  (James  I;  5-7.) 
Is  it  not  sad  to  think  that  when  God  has  put  into  our 
hands  the  means  whereby  we  may  obtain  every  grace 
and  assistance  which  we  require  for  our  soul's  salva- 
tion, we  fail  to  obtain  those  graces  for  want  of  the 
necessary  condition  of  faith!  How  many  prayers 


VI  SUNDAY  AFTER  EPIPHANY       329 

do  we  put  forth  daily,  which  are  not  heard,  because 
they  are  not  made  in  faith.  What,  then,  is  meant 
by  the  prayer  of  faith;  and  why  is  faith  so  essential? 
It  is  because  faith  is  a  summary  of  all  the  qualities 
which  ought  to  enter  into  our  prayer,  to  make  it 
efficacious. 

The  prayer  of  faith  is  humble,  is  earnest,  is  per- 
severing. This  is  why  it  is  so  efficacious.  By  faith 
we  adore  the  infinite  sanctity  and  majesty  of  Him 
Whom  we  address.  By  faith  we  acknowledge  our 
own  nothingness  and  unworthiness  to  appear  in  His 
presence;  or  to  receive  anything  from  Him.  By 
faith  we  perceive  the  momentous  importance  of  the 
graces  we  ask  for,  without  which  our  soul  will  be 
eternally  lost.  Think,  on  the  other  hand,  what  kind 
of  prayers  we  are  in  the  habit  of  using;  and  then 
cease  to  wonder  that  our  prayers  are  not  heard. 
Do  we  pray  with  that  humility,  that  attention,  that 
fervour,  that  perseverance,  which  becomes  creatures 
when  they  are  addressing  their  Creator;  creatures, 
moreover,  who  stand  on  the  brink  of  a  precipice, 
over  which  they  may,  at  any  moment,  fall,  unless  He 
support  them  by  His  grace?  How  often  do  we  read 
of  some  homeward-bound  vessel,  wrecked  upon  the 
very  verge  of  the  port  she  was  entering?  The  ship 
goes  to  pieces;  while  the  spectators  on  the  shore 
hear  with  a  shudder  the  shrieks  and  despairing  cries 
of  the  drowning  wretches  who  cling  to  the  last  frag- 
ments of  the  wreck;  shrieks  which  overpower  the 
howling  of  the  tempest  and  the  roar  of  the  angry 
billows.  That,  my  brethren,  is  prayer.  No  one  can 


330  SERMONS  FOR  THE  YEAR 

doubt  the  sincerity  and  earnestness  of  those  creatures 
seeking  deliverance  from  the  death  which  surrounds 
them.  But  is  not  our  position  far  more  desperate 
than  theirs? 

Their  struggle  is  for  the  life  of  the  body;  ours  is 
for  that  of  the  immortal  soul.  The  death  which 
threatens  them  is  a  momentary  thing;  the  death 
which  threatens  us  is  eternal.  The  winds  and  the 
waves  which  overwhelm  them;  what  are  they,  com- 
pared to  the  storms  of  temptation,  raised  by  the  con- 
tinued powers  of  the  devil,  the  world  and  the  flesh, 
under  which  the  soul  of  man  cannot  live  for  a  mo- 
ment, without  the  grace  of  God  ?  And  yet,  in  spite  of 
this,  when  there  is  no  human  help  left  to  us,  and  our 
only  resource  is  to  implore  the  mercy  of  God,  what 
do  we  do?  What  kind  of  prayers  do  we  utter?  I 
leave  it  to  your  consciences  to  answer.  Do  we  not 
come  into  the  presence  of  God  to  pray,  with  a  care- 
lessness, a  levity,  and  an  indifference  which  we  should 
be  ashamed  to  show  in  the  presence  of  an  earthly 
benefactor  from  whom  we  hope  to  receive  some 
favour? 

And  our  conduct  is  the  less  excusable  because  of 
the  infallible  promise  of  our  I/ord,  that  the  prayer  of 
faith  will  be  heard.  Even  if  there  were  no  such 
promise;  if  there  were  only  some  remote  possibility 
that  God  would  hear  us;  even  then,  the  dangers  that 
surround  us  should  warn  us  to  cry,  without  ceasing, 
for  that  mercy  which  we  so  sorely  need.  But,  when 
He  has  promised  to  hear  us  with  infallible  certainty, 
what  excuse  can  we  make?  "Ask,  and  it  shall  be 


VI  SUNDAY  AFTER    EPIPHANY      331 

given  you;  seek,  and  you  shall  find;  knock,  and  it 
shall  be  opened  to  you."  (I/uke  XI ;  9.)  If,  then,  your 
prayers  have  not  hitherto  proved  efficacious,  lay  not 
the  blame  upon  God,  but  upon  yourselves  and  upon 
your  defective  prayers.  Pray  with  the  faith  of  God ; 
and  whatsoever  you  shall  ask,  it  shall  be  done  for 
you.  Our  I^ord  is  the  same  yesterday,  to-day  and 
forever.  (Hebr.  XIII ;  8.)  His  Arm  is  not  shortened, 
nor  His  power  diminished.  (Is.  LIX;  1.)  His 
power  to  save  us,  and  His  will  to  save  us,  are  the  same 
at  all  times;  and,  when  we  consider  what  miracles 
He  wrought,  in  answer  to  the  prayer  of  faith,  during 
His  sojourn  upon  earth,  how  can  we  doubt  that  He 
will,  in  answer  to  the  prayer  of  faith,  heal  all  our 
spiritual  maladies  by  His  Omnipotent  grace? 

How  often  did  he  say  to  the  afflicted  creatures 
who  sought  His  aid:  "Thy  faith  hath  made  thee 
whole?"  (Matt.  IX;  22.)  "Seeing  their  faith,  He 
said  to  the  man  sick  of  the  palsy:  'Son,  be  of  good 
heart.'  "  (Matt.  IX;  2.)  Again,  "O  woman,  great 
is  thy  faith,"  (Matt.  IV;  41.)  And  on  another 
occasion  He  even  wondered,  and  said:  "I  have  not 
found  so  great  faith  in  Israel."  (Matt.  VIII;  10.) 
How  often  did  He  reproach  His  disciples  for  their 
want  of  faith!  "Why  are  ye  fearful,  O  ye  of  little 
faith?"  (Matt.  VIII;  26.)  "Have  you  not  faith 
yet?"  (Mark  IV;  41.)  The  measure  of  His  mercy 
was  according  to  the  measure  of  their  faith:  "Ac- 
cording to  your  faith,  be  it  done  unto  you."  (Matt. 
IX;  29.)  "As  thou  hast  believed,  so  be  it  done  unto 
thee."  (Matt.  VIII;  13.)  In  the  case  of  one  who 


332  SERMONS  FOR  THE  YEAR 

implored  our  Lord's  help,  it  was  necessary  that  his 
faith  should  be  confirmed  before  his  petition  could 
be  granted.  And  so  our  Lord  said  to  him:  "If 
thou  canst  believe,  all  things  are  possible  to  him 
that  believeth."  Then  the  father's  eyes  were  opened 
to  the  light  of  faith,  and  he  replied:  "I  do  believe; 
Lord,  help  thou  my  unbelief."  (Mark  IX;  23.) 
And  immediately  the  miracle  was  wrought  which 
he  had  implored  on  behalf  of  his  son. 

I  trust,  my  dear  brethren,  you  are  convinced  that 
if  you  find  yourselves  overwhelmed  with  calamities, 
your  soul  sinking  under  the  waves  which  threaten 
to  engulf  you  on  every  side,  the  fault  is  entirely 
your  own;  for  the  remedy  is  in  your  own  hands. 
You  have  but  to  pray  with  the  prayer  of  faith,  and 
all  things  shall  be  done  to  you,  even  as  you  will. 
If  such  be  the  case,  why  should  we  delay  any  longer 
to  stir  up  within  ourselves  the  spirit  of  a  lively  faith 
— the  spirit  of  that  faith  by  which  the  saints  of  old 
"conquered  Kingdoms,  wrought  justice,  and  ob- 
tained the  promises."  (Hebr.  XI;  33.) 


SEPTUAGESIMA. 

(From  the  Gospel.) 

"Why  stand  you  here  all  the  day  idle?"  (Matt. 
XX;  6.) 

On  this  day,  my  dear  brethren,  the  Church,  by 
the  colour  of  her  vestments  and  the  character  of  her 
ritual  and  office,  signifies  to  us  that  we  are  fast  ap- 
proaching the  penitential  season  of  Lent;  and  she 


333 

has  most  aptly  chosen  for  the  gospel  of  this  Sunday 
the  parable  of  the  labourers  called  into  the  vineyard. 
For  the  holy  season  of  Lent  is  distinctly  a  divine 
call  for  every  one  of  us.  That  we  may  not,  when 
the  time  comes,  turn  a  deaf  ear  to  that  call,  let  us 
consider  this  parable,  and  apply  it  to  our  own  in- 
struction. 

The  householder  is  represented  as  going  into  the 
market  place  at  five  distinct  periods  of  the  day,  and 
hiring  labourers  for  his  vineyard.  This  householder 
is  God  Himself,  Who  is  Lord  and  Master  of  all  created 
things,  Who  claims,  by  every  right  and  title,  their 
service  and  obedience.  We  owe  Him  this  service 
and  obedience  absolutely,  even  though  there  were 
no  recompense  attached  to  it.  If,  nevertheless,  He 
has  promised  us  eternal  life  as  a  recompense,  this  is 
out  of  His  pure  Mercy  and  Goodness,  and  not  be- 
cause we  had  any  claim  to  such  reward.  He  goes 
then  into  the  market  place — that  is,  into  the  busy 
throng  of  this  world's  occupations,  and  finds  us  His 
creatures  standing  there;  and  reproaches  us  in  these 
terms:  "Why  stand  you  here  all  the  day  idle?" 
For,  my  brethren,  however  busily  we  may  be  occu- 
pied in  the  affairs  of  this  world,  this  is  mere  idleness 
in  the  sight  of  God — it  is  the  deadly  sin  of  sloth. 
The  only  work  which  can  profit  us  at  all,  is  that 
whereby  we  are  employed  in  working  out  our  salva- 
tion— in  working  for  God  and  for  life  eternal.  The 
day  represents  the  whole  term  of  this  present  life, 
for  all  our  earthly  life  is  but  as  a  day,  given  us  to 
earn  the  wages  of  eternal  life.  "Work,  whilst  it  is 


334  SERMONS  FOR  THE  YEAR 

day,  for  the  night  cometh  in  which  no  man  can 
work."  (John  IX;  4.)  The  different  periods  of  the 
day,  namely,  the  first,  the  third,  the  sixth,  the  ninth, 
and  the  eleventh  hour,  signify  the  different  periods 
of  life  in  which  the  soul  is  awakened  out  of  its  in- 
dolent reveries  and  called  by  God  to  labour  in  His 
vineyard  for  its  own  salvation.  For  this  is  God's 
vineyard,  the  soul  of  man,  planted  by  Himself, 
fertilized  by  the  copious  streams  of  divine  grace,  but 
which  still  needs  our  co-operation  to  produce  its 
legitimate  fruit. 

Some,  then,  are  called  in  their  early  childhood ; 
some  in  youth;  some  when  they  have  grown  up  to 
manhood;  some  later  on;  others  again,  in  the  evening 
of  old  age,  when  the  night  of  death  is  fast  approach- 
ing. Here  let  me  warn  you  against  an  error  into 
which  some  might  possibly  fall.  Do  not  suppose 
that  there  ever  can  be  a  time  in  the  life  of  any  one 
in  which  we  are  not  called  by  God  to  labour  in  His 
vineyard.  Do  not  suppose  that  God  recognizes  the 
right  of  any  one  to  put  off  his  period  of  service  till 
the  third,  the  sixth,  the  ninth,  or  the  eleventh  hour. 
We  are  bound  by  the  strictest  obligations  to  serve 
God,  and  Him  alone,  from  the  first  moment  of  our 
existence;  and,  when  the  householder  comes  into 
the  market-place  and  finds  us  unemployed,  whether 
it  be  the  third,  the  sixth,  the  ninth  or  the  eleventh 
hour,  His  reproach  is  still  and  always  the  same: 
"Why  stand  you  here  idle?"  Again,  there  is  an- 
other possible  error  into  which  some  may  fall. 
You  may  say,  at  any  rate,  it  is  not  the  eleventh  hour 
yet ;  there  is  time  enough  to  loiter  about  the  market- 


SEPTUAGESIMA  335 

place — to  engage  in  the  occupations  of  the  world; 
and  when  the  eleventh  hour  strikes.we  can  then  take 
our  place  in  the  Master's  vineyard,  and  so  secure 
the  wages  of  eternal  life.  Ah !  my  brethren,  this  is  a 
fatal  error.  Who  knows  whether  it  is  not  even  now 
the  eleventh  hour?  The  hours  of  this  day  are  not 
measured  by  age,  nor  by  strength,  nor  health,  nor 
vigour  of  constitution,  nor  by  flattering  hopes  and 
sanguine  anticipations.  That  hour  will  strike  for 
each  one  of  us,  whenever  God  pleases.  It  may  have 
struck  already,  for  aught  we  know.  There  is  not 
one  here  present  now,  who  may  not  be,  at  this  mo- 
ment, on  the  very  brink  of  the  grave.  All  we  know 
of  that  hour  is  this,  that  the  Son  of  Man  will  come 
on  a  day  that  we  expect  not,  and  at  an  hour  that 
we  know  not.  (I/uke  XII;  40.)  But,  my  brethren, 
if  this  be  so,  if  there  is  only  a  possibility  that  this 
may  be  the  eleventh  hour  for  any  one  of  us,  what  if 
we  neglect  that  divine  call,  to  go  into  our  Master's 
vineyard,  to  labour  the  more  earnestly  to  make  our 
calling  and  election  sure,  (II  Pet.  I;  10)  through  a 
vain  expectation  of  future  opportunities  which  will 
never  come!  "To-day,  then,  if  you  shall  hear  His 
voice,  harden  not  your  hearts."  (Ps.  XCIV;  8.) 
You  have  dallied  long  enough  in  the  market-place. 
This  is  not,  perhaps,  the  first  time  that  the  great 
Master  has  invited  you  to  His  service.  It  may  be 
the  last.  Do  not  then  disregard  it.  "Or  despiseth 
thou  the  riches  of  His  Goodness  and  Patience  and 
long-suffering.  Knowest  thou  not  that  the  benign- 
ity of  God  leadeth  thee  to  penance?"  (Rom.  II; 


336  SERMONS  FOR  THE  YEAR 

4.)  If,  when  we  hear  our  I/ord's  voice,  instead  of 
listening  to  His  word  and  obeying,  we  harden  our 
hearts,  then  the  time  of  grace  and  repentance  will  be 
past  and  gone  for  us;  and  there  will  be  nothing  left 
for  us  but  the  sentence  of  eternal  reprobation,  when 
"He  will  swear  in  His  wrath  that  we  shall  not  enter 
into  His  rest."  (Hebr.  Ill;  11.)  But  "according 
to  thy  hardness  and  impenitent  heart,  thou  treas- 
urest  up  to  thyself  wrath  against  the  day  of  wrath, 
and  revelation  of  the  just  judgment  of  God. ' '  (Rom. 

II;  5.) 

But,  my  brethren,  if  this  parable  has  its  terrible 
aspect,  as  we  have  just  seen,  it  has  its  consoling 
aspect  as  well.  If  it  teaches  us  that  now  may  be  the 
eleventh  hour,  and  that  we  must  be  up  and  doing 
at  once,  as  we  hope  to  be  saved;  it  teaches  us  also 
that  we  need  not  despair,  even  though  the  whole 
of  our  previous  life  has  been  frittered  away  in  the 
frivolous  occupations  of  the  world.  The  fact  that 
God  has  spared  hitherto,  the  fact  that  God  calls 
even  now  into  His  vineyard,  proves  that  there  is 
yet  time,  even  at  the  eleventh  hour,  to  earn  the 
wages  of  eternal  life,  provided  always  that  we 
respond  to  this  call,  and,  abandoning  our  sloth  and 
indifference,  labour  earnestly  during  the  time  that 
remains  in  the  work  of  our  salvation. 

More  than  this,  it  teaches  us  that  it  is  possible 
for  us,  even  at  the  eleventh  hour,  to  earn  the  same 
reward  as  those  who  have  laboured  all  their  life  and 
borne  the  burden  of  the  day  and  the  heat.  It  is 
not  with  the  work  of  our  salvation  as  it  is  with  the 


SEPTUAGESIMA  337 

affairs  of  the  world.  Many  a  one  who  has  broken 
down  in  the  pursuit  of  worldly  success,  has  given  up 
the  struggle  in  despair,  feeling  that  as  old  age  creeps 
upon  him  and  strength  diminishes,  he  is  unequal  to 
the  task,  and  that  he  cannot  possibly  repair  the  losses 
of  the  past.  But  with  the  work  of  salvation  it  is 
not  so.  That  is  not  a  work  of  years,  or  months,  or 
days.  The  grace  of  God  is  able  in  an  instant  to 
overthrow  the  ramparts  and  bulwarks  of  a  life-long 
habit  of  sin,  and  to  erect  a  structure  of  grace  and 
piety,  by  the  conversion  of  the  sinner  who  corres- 
ponds with  that  grace.  In  a  single  instant,  the  soul 
that  is  faithful  to  that  call  and  co-operates  with  that 
grace,  is  able,  through  the  superabundant  merits 
of  the  Blood  of  Christ,  to  earn  the  reward  of  ever- 
lasting life;  and  not  merely  that,  but  the  fulness 
of  that  reward  in  the  accumulated  merits  which 
will  follow  those  who  give  themselves  up  wholly  to 
the  divine  service.  Who  would  not  regard  with  a 
holy  envy  the  lot  of  the  penitent  thief  who,  after  a 
life  spent  in  crime,  was  converted  in  his  last  moments 
and  summoned  to  Paradise  by  the  voice  of  our  Lord 
Himself?  (Luke  XXIII;  43.)  "For  the  just  man, 
if  he  be  prevented  with  death,  shall  be  in  rest.  For 
venerable  old  age  is  not  that  of  long  time,  nor  counted 
by  the  number  of  years:  but  the  understanding  of 
a  man  is  gray  hairs,  and  a  spotless  life  is  old  age." 
(Wisd.  IV;  7,  9.) 

Thus,  my  brethren,  this  parable  should  comfort 
and  encourage  all,  both  those  who  are  first  in  being 
called  to  the  vineyard  and  those  who  are  last.  It 


338  SERMONS  FOR  THE  YEAR 

should  stimulate  the  first  to  renewed  exertions, 
lest,  after  all,  they  should  lose  their  vocation,  and 
consequently  their  reward;  and  to  a  holy  fervour  of 
rivalry  lest  they  should  be  overtaken  by  those  who 
are  called  in  the  last  place.  It  should  also  encourage 
these  latter  not  to  be  disheartened  by  their  previous 
remissness  in  God's  service,  but  to  labour  more 
earnestly  in  the  hours  alotted  to  them,  that  they 
may  gain  the  same  reward.  For  the  great  Master 
regards  more  the  zeal  and  devotion  of  His  servants, 
than  the  length  of  their  service.  But  above  all,  it 
is  a  warning  to  all  not  to  neglect  the  call  of  divine 
grace;  not  to  let  this  holy  season  which  is  approach- 
ing, pass  by  without  doing  the  works  of  penance; 
without  being  reconciled  to  God  and  labouring  to 
make  our  calling  and  election  sure.  (II  Pet.  I;  10.) 
For,  my  brethren,  though  many  are  called,  few  are 
chosen.  (Matt.  XXII;  14.)  We  are  all  called,  but 
few  are  chosen;  because  few  respond  to  that  call  as 
they  ought.  Let  us  at  least  be  of  those  chosen  few. 
I/et  us  hear  His  voice,  and,  leaving  the  idle  dissipa- 
tion of  a  worldly  life,  betake  ourselves  in  earnest  to 
the  work  of  our  salvation :  knowing  that  we  have  a 
good  and  an  indulgent  Master  Who,  when  the  brief 
hour  of  our  labour  is  over,  will  call  us  to  Himself,  and 
will  bestow  upon  us  the  eternal  reward  which  He 
has  promised  to  every  good  and  faithful  servant. 


339 
SEPTUAGESIMA 

(From  the  Lesson.) 

"So  run  that  you  may  obtain."  (I  Cor.  IX;  24.) 
In  this  Sunday's  lesson  we  are  reminded,  my  dear 
brethren,  of  the  great  privilege  we  enjoy  of  being 
members  of  Christ's  Body,  through  the  Church,  which 
is  His  spouse;  a  privilege  which  immeasurably  sur- 
passes that  which  was  granted  to  the  patriarchs 
and  fathers  of  the  old  covenant,  before  the  coming 
of  our  I/ord.  But,  my  brethren,  have  we  ever 
reflected  that  where  the  privileges  are  greater,  the 
responsibility  must  be  proportionately  greater  also? 
Hence,  the  apostle  in  this  day's  lesson  reminds  us  of 
what  happened  to  those  who  were  unfaithful  to  the 
graces  of  the  Old  Testament,  and  warns  us,  by  that 
example,  of  the  still  more  terrible  retribution  which 
awaits  those  who  are  unfaithful  to  the  still  more 
abundant  graces  of  the  New  Testament.  The  old 
law  has  its  sacraments,  its  sacrifices,  its  salutary 
rites  and  ordinances,  its  precepts;  but  they  were 
but  poor  and  needy  elements,  having  only  a  shadow 
of  the  good  things  to  come;  (Gal.  IV;  9)  and  not,  as 
now,  containing  the  very  substance  of  those  things 
which  God  has  prepared  for  them  that  love  Him — of 
the  glory  which  shall  be  revealed  in  us  hereafter. 
(Rom.  VIII;  18.)  It  is  clear,  then,  that  this  mar- 
velous outpouring  of  grace  which  marks  the  present 
dispensation,  requires  a  corresponding  co-operation 
on  our  part,  who  are  the  recipients  of  those  graces. 
They  who  have  been  made  members  of  Christ's 
Body,  and  who  are  constantly  receiving  that  influx 


340  SERMONS  FOR  THE  YEAR 

of  grace  and  power  which  is  diffused  from  the  Head 
to  all  the  members,  must  necessarily  be  under  a  far 
stricter  obligation  of  conforming  themselves  to  that 
Head,  than  those  who,  under  the  old  law,  enjoyed 
no  such  corporal  union  with  Him  who  is  the  Life 
and  Light  of  men. 

But,  on  the  other  hand,  as  a  consequence  of  this 
responsibility,  it  would  seem  that  the  higher  man  is 
raised  in  the  order  of  grace,  the  lower  does  he  fall 
from  mere  natural  rectitude  if  he  fails  to  correspond 
to  that  high  vocation;  so  that  another  apostle  says 
elsewhere:  "It  had  been  better  for  them  not  to  have 
known  the  way  of  justice,  than  after  they  have 
known  it,  to  turn  back  from  that  holy  command- 
ment which  was  delivered  to  them."  (II  Pet.  II;  21.) 
Hence,  my  brethren,  the  explanation  of  the  fact,  so 
terribly  apparent  to  our  eyes,  that  it  is  not  possible 
to  find  amongst  the  heathen,  such  utter  perversion 
and  depravity  of  the  faculties,  intellectual  and  moral, 
as  is  to  be  found  amongst  those  who  have  been  called 
by  God  to  be  children  of  the  Light,  and  have  proved 
rebellious  to  that  call. 

This,  then,  is  the  admonition  which  the  Church 
addresses  to  us  this  day  by  the  mouth  of  the  apostle; 
not  to  rest  in  a  false  security  on  account  of  the  great 
graces  we  have  received  and  are  receiving,  but 
rather,  to  be  moved  to  a  greater  sense  of  our  respon- 
sibility, and  to  more  strenuous  exertions  to  mak  eour 
calling  and  election  sure  (II  Pet.  I;  10),  lest  in  spite 
of  those  graces  we  should  become  reprobate.  And 
if  this  great  apostle  found  it  necessary  to  chastise 


SEPTUAGESIMA  341 

his  body  and  bring  it  into  subjection,  lest  that  terrible 
doom  should  overtake  him,  (I  Cor.  I/X;  27)  shall  we, 
with  all  our  weakness  and  temptations,  be  exempt 
from  the  like  necessity?  And  after  all,  what  se- 
curity have  we  that  we  shall  not  be  reprobate? 
The  sacraments  we  receive,  the  Sacrifice  we  offer,  the 
graces  and  ministrations  of  the  Church  to  which  we 
belong — do  these  afford  us  a  certain  guarantee  and 
security?  Hear  what  the  apostle  says  about  it: 
"For  I  would  not  have  you  ignorant,  brethren,  that 
our  fathers  were  all  under  the  cloud,  and  all  passed 
through  the  sea;  and  all  in  Moses  were  baptized  in 
the  cloud  and  in  the  sea;  and  did  all  eat  the  same 
spiritual  food ;  and  all  drank  the  same  spiritual  drink ; 
but  with  the  most  of  them  God  was  not  well  pleased. 
Our  fathers  in  the  old  law  all  partook  of  the  same 
sacraments,  were  witnesses  of  the  same  signs  and 
wonders,  were  nourished  with  the  same  spiritual 
food,  and  yet,  with  the  greater  part  of  them,  God 
was  not  well  pleased.  For  He  swore  in  His  wrath 
that  they  should  not  enter  into  His  rest.  And  they 
were  overthrown  in  the  desert.  If  this  be  so  have 
we  nothing  to  fear?  Undoubtedly  we  have.  As  it 
was  with  our  fathers,  so  may  it  be  with  us.  The 
greater  the  graces  and  the  more  striking  the  signs 
which  have  been  wrought  in  us,  the  greater  is  the 
danger,  and  the  more  terrible  the  fall,  if  we  fail  to 
correspond  with  those  graces.  The  Israelites  all 
partook  of  the  same  heavenly  manna;  drank  from 
the  same  spiritual  rock;  nevertheless,  they  rebelled 
against  God  in  the  desert;  they  were  always  stiff- 


342  SERMONS  FOR  THE  YEAR 

necked  and  perverse  in  their  ways,  but  their  meat 
and  drink  were,  after  all,  but  types  and  figures  of 
that  heavenly  nourishment,  which  our  blessed  Lord 
furnishes  for  the  refreshment  of  His  faithful  members, 
in  the  sacrament  of  His  Body  and  Blood.  And  yet 
how  many  are  there  who  eat  and  drink  unworthily, 
thereby  eating  and  drinking  judgment  to  themselves ! 
How  many  who,  instead  of  being  refreshed  and  in- 
vigorated by  that  holy  banquet,  remain  weak  and 
infirm!  How  many  sleep  the  sleep  of  slothfulness 
and  tepidity!  All  this  is  in  consequence  of  our 
remissness  and  indifference;  so  that  we  do  not  reap 
the  fruits  which  we  might,  with  ordinary  diligence, 
receive  from  this  holy  sacrament. 

Ixx>k  back  upon  the  past,  and  survey  the  heroic 
band  of  those  who  have  adorned  the  Church  by  their 
sanctity  and  devotion.  Apostles  and  martyrs,  con- 
fessors and  virgins,  holy  men  and  women,  see  how, 
in  their  several  ranks,  they  glitter  in  the  eternal 
crown  with  which  the  brow  of  the  Church  triumphant 
is  adorned.  And  yet  they,  like  ourselves,  were 
encompassed  with  infirmity.  They  had  the  same 
enemies,  within  and  without,  to  struggle  against; 
the  same  temptations;  the  same  trials  and  adversi- 
ties to  contend  with.  Moreover,  to  help  them  in 
this  conflict,  they  had  the  same  sources  of  grace  to 
have  recourse  to — the  same  and  no  other — the  same 
sacraments,  the  same  Sacrifice.  They  could  pray, 
and  we  can  pray;  and  God  has  pledged  His  solemn 
word  that  He  will  hear  our  prayer  as  much  as  theirs. 
They  ate  the  same  spiritual  food  that  we  eat;  they 


SEPTUAGESIMA  343 

drank  the  same  spiritual  drink  that  we  drink;  and 
yet,  how  different  is  the  result !  Surely  this  shows 
great  remissness  on  our  part,  inconceivable  apathy 
and  indifference  to  our  own  highest  interests.  More 
than  that,  it  shows  the  danger  we  incur;  for  if  we  do 
not  at  least  attempt  to  emulate  their  virtues,  we  run 
the  risk  of  falling  into  the  number  of  those  with 
whom  God  was  not  well  pleased. 

Let  us  not,  however,  despond  at  past  failings  and 
shortcomings.  The  grace  of  God  is  always  knock- 
ing at  the  door  of  our  hearts,  waiting  to  be  admitted 
therein,  to  lay  there  a  foundation  of  solid  piety; 
but  more  especially  now,  when  we  are  entering  on 
the  solemn  season  of  Lent.  The  Church  begins  to 
cry  out:  "Now  is  the  acceptable  time;"  (II  Cor. 
VI;  2.)  a  time  of  special  grace,  and  opportunity 
for  a  thorough  conversion  to  holiness  of  life.  What 
though  we  have  been  called  at  the  third,  the  sixth, 
the  ninth  or  even  at  the  eleventh  hour — still,  there  is 
ample  time  for  each  of  us  to  earn  the  wages  of  eternal 
life,  if  we  but  work  honestly  and  diligently  at  the 
appointed  task.  The  Church  will  soon  sound  her 
trumpet  and  proclaim  a  solemn  fast — a  fast  not 
only  from  material  food,  but  still  more  from  carnal 
desires.  Let  us  beware  lest  we  enter  on  the  approach- 
ing Lent  in  an  indifferent  and  negligent  mood;  still 
more,  lest  we  despise  this  most  salutary  discipline, 
and  loathe  the  spiritual  sustenance  which  the  Church 
provides  for  us.  The  Israelites  who  loathed  the 
heavenly  manna  and  longed  after  the  flesh  pots  of 
Egypt,  left  their  bones  to  bleach  in  the  wilderness. 


344  SERMONS  FOR  THE  YEAR 

This  is  a  figure  of  what  will  happen  to  those  who, 
instead  of  welcoming  that  spiritual  nourishment, 
which  will  carry  them  through  the  desert  of  this  life, 
go  on  indulging  in  worldly  and  sensual  desires 
which  was* against  the  soul,  and  inherit  corruption. 
(I  Pet.  II;  11.)  The  graces  of  God  may  not  be 
slighted  with  impunity.  What,  then,  if  one  should 
allow  a  whole  Lent,  the  harvest  time  of  the  Church, 
to  pass  by  unfruitful.  You  are  all  called;  see  that 
you  be  among  the  few  chosen.  (Matt.  XXII;  14.) 
You  will  all  drink  of  the  spiritual  rock,  which  is 
Christ;  see  that  you  be  among  those  with  whom  God 
was  well  pleased.  So  run,  therefore,  that  you  may 
obtain  the  crown  of  life.  "To  him  that  overcometh, 
I  will  give  to  eat  of  the  tree  of  life,  which  is  in  the 
Paradise  of  my  God."  (Apoc.  II ;  7.) 


SEXAGESIMA. 

(Gospel.) 

"The  sower  went  out  to  sow  his  seed"  *  *  *  * 
"The  seed  is  the  word  of  God."  (St.  Luke  VIII; 
5,  11.) 

It  was  the  month  of  November  and  our  Blessed 
Lord  had  made  a  long  and  arduous  missionary  jour- 
ney through  the  cities  and  towns  of  Galilee,  accom- 
panied by  the  twelve,  and  by  the  holy  women  who 
ministered  to  Him. 

The  people  had  been  stirred  and  awakened  by 
His  visit,  and  now  that  He  had  retired  into  the 
country  near  the  lake  side,  they  came  out  in  crowds 


SEXAGESIMA  345 

to  find  Him.  And  so  we  can  imagine  Him  sitting 
on  a  grassy  slope,  raised  a  little  above  his  auditors, 
gazing  down  upon  their  eager,  upturned  faces,  and 
pondering  for  a  moment  as  to  the  message  He  is 
about  to  deliver.  And  then  as  His  eyes  wander 
over  the  dear  and  familiar  scene,  he  notices  the 
sowers  passing  through  the  fields  by  the  water  side, 
scattering  the  seed  to  right  and  left,  and  ever 
followed  by  a  cloud  of  eager  birds.  And  then  with 
His  eyes  still  fixed  on  this  common  country  sight, 
He  begins  to  weave  from  it  one  of  those  divine  stories 
full  of  heavenly  truth,  which  wecall  His  Parables. 
He  tells  of  the  sower  sowing,  and  of  the  seed  that  fell. 
It  was  the  same  sower  and  the  same  seed,  and  yet 
how  different  was  the  result.  In  one  place  the  seed 
fell  only  to  be  picked  up  by  the  hungry  birds,  in 
another  it  sprung  up,  but  soon  withered  away;  in 
a  third  it  was  choked  by  thorns  and  briars;  only  in 
one  case  out  of  four  did  a  good  crop  result  from  the 
sower's  labour. 

It  seems  strange  to  us,  perhaps,  that  so  obvious  a 
parable  was  not  understood.  But  it  is  obvious 
chiefly  because  we  have  the  Key,  and  having  al- 
ways had  it,  can  scarcely  believe  that  it  was  ever 
needed.  But  to  those  who  heard  it  first,  the  meaning 
was  not  so  clear.  The  disciples,  who  were  most  used 
to  our  Lord's  methods  of  teaching,  had  to  come  and 
ask  Him  what  it  meant.  Nor  did  He  refuse  to  ex- 
plain it  to  them.  Gentle  and  patient  as  ever,  He 
elaborately  explains  the  plain  images  He  had  used, 
making  all  clear  to  their  simple  minds  and  driving 


346  SERMONS  FOR  THE  YEAR 

•die  lesson  home  to  their  hearts.     Let  us  listen  to 
His  teaching. 

1.  The  seed,  He  tells  them,  is  the  Word  of  God; 
that  is  to  say,  it  is  every  good  and  holy  inspiration 
dropped  by  God's  mercy  into  the  human  heart. 
The  sower  is  the  instrument  used  by  God,  whether 
it  be  the  priest,  or  some  spiritual  writer,  or  some 
friend  or  acquaintance,  or  merely  some  external  cir- 
cumstance permitted  or  ordained  by  His  Providence. 
But  as  a  general  rule,  we  may  take  it  that  the  sower 
is  God's  minister,  preaching  His  word  to  souls. 
This  divine  word  is  always  efficacious,  always  fruit- 
ful. Yet  however  zealous,  however  skillful  may  be 
the  sower,  he  will  have  to  mourn  over  much  wasted 
seed,  much  fruitless  sowing.  And  the  reason  is 
that  the  ground  is  not  prepared  to  receive  the  seed. 
It  falls  by  the  wayside,  on  the  hard  ground  trodden 
down  by  countless  feet.  It  cannot  sink  into  this 
stony  surface;  it  lies  there  an  easy  prey  to  the  vora- 
cious birds,  who  boldly  follow  the  sower  on  his  way. 
And  our  Lord  tells  us,  so  it  is  with  the  hearts  of 
hardened  sinners.  They  have  been  trodden  down 
by  the  restless,  ceaseless  tread  of  evil  passions, 
hardened  more  and  more  till  they  have  become  a 
mere  thoroughfare  for  Satan  and  his  ministers. 
Long  indulgence  in  evil  habits  has  made  them  im- 
pervious to  the  inspirations  of  grace,  has  hardened 
the  surface  of  their  souls,  so  that  nothing  has  any 
effect  on  them.  What  a  terrible  state  is  this !  They 
hear  a  sermon,  or  assist  at  holy  Mass,  or  witness  some 
judgment  of  God  upon  evil-doers,  and  it  is  all  with- 


SEXAGESIMA  347 

out  the  least  effect  on  them  except,  indeed,  to  harden 
them  the  more.  The  seed  enters  the  ear,  but  never 
penetrates  into  the  heart.  The  enemy  of  souls  has 
but  to  raise  some  storm  in  their  imagination,  suggest 
some  evil  thought  or  desire,  and  all  is  lost.  They 
are,  as  it  were,  destitute  of  spiritual  sense;  only  that 
which  is  carnal,  sensual,  evil,  appeals  to  them;  the 
things  of  God  are  to  them  a  mere  senseless  dream. 
Yet  they  were  not  always  like  this.  Only  little  by 
little,  only  by  cherishing  some  darling  vice,  only  by 
stopping  their  ears  persistently  to  the  calls  of  grace, 
have  they  gradually  reached  this  terrible  state.  May 
God  preserve  us  from  this  living  death,  for  only 
by  a  miracle  can  such  sinners  be  awakened  to  life. 

2.  The  second  case  is  even  more  common,  for 
after  all,  it  is  the  minority  which  is  thus  hardened  in 
sin.  It  is  the  case  of  the  seed  which  falls  upon  a 
rock,  covered  with  a  thin  layer  of  good  soil.  It 
germinates  quickly,  and  springs  up :  but  there  is  no 
moisture,  no  depth  in  the  hot  soil,  and  as  the  sun 
gets  strong  the  little  blade  withers  and  dies.  The 
sower  is  often  cruelly  disappointed  here,  for  he  does 
not  at  first  perceive  the  nature  of  the  ground.  All 
seems  so  fair  and  promising  under  the  cloudy  sky 
at  dawn,  but  it  is  a  promise  that  cannot  stand  the 
fiery  trials  of  midday. 

And  such  is  the  case,  our  Lord  tells  us,  with  many 
who  are  most  eager  at  first,  but  who  from  levity  of 
mind  and  inconstancy  of  purpose,  fall  off  very  soon. 
The  little  blade  that  springs  up  is  full  of  promise, 
but  it  is  a  deceptive  promise,  and  the  good  resolu- 


348  SERMONS  FOR  THE  YEAR 

tions  have  no  stability.  Never  a  mission  or  retreat 
is  given  but  these  eager  hearers  are  found  in  plenty. 
They  are  full  of  enthusiasm,  full  of  the  great  things 
they  are  going  to  do,  full  of  resolutions  for  the  future. 
And  then  you  return  after  a  few  months  and  where 
are  they?  They  were  converts,  perhaps,  so  eager  to 
be  received — they  have  dropped  off,  we  find.  They 
were  young  men  and  young  women  who  were  going 
to  be  real  apostles  among  their  fellows ;  but  they  are 
no  longer  to  be  counted  on  themselves.  They  were 
bent  on  reforming  the  world,  but  they  have  failed 
even  to  reform  themselves. 

"In  time  of  temptation  they  fall  away,"  our  Lord 
explains,  so  sadly.  They  received  the  word  with 
joy,  but  "they  have  no  roots."  It  does  not  need, 
for  the  most  part,  any  great  trial  to  cause  this  back- 
sliding. Some  old  temptation  returns,  naturally 
enough,  and  they  succumb  to  it.  They  thought 
it  had  gone  forever,  and  would  never  trouble  them 
again.  And  now  that  they  have  fallen  once  more, 
they  lose  all  heart.  Or,  again,  it  is  human  respect 
which  causes  their  ruin.  It  is  so  hard  to  be  sneered 
at,  to  bear  the  jeers  of  old  companions,  to  be  pointed 
out  as  having  turned  pious  and  methodistical,  be- 
cause they  try  to  avoid  bad  conversation,  or  dare  to 
say  their  prayers.  Surely  too  hard  to  be  borne! 
Or,  again,  it  is  the  mere  distaste  for  mortification 
and  self-denial,  the  trouble  involved  in  the  weekly 
confession,  the  weariness  in  the  morning,  which  makes 
prayer  so  difficult,  the  nuisance  of  the  Friday  ab- 
stinance,  and  so  on.  And  so  they  fall  away. 


SEXAGKSIMA  349 

.  3.  And  then  there  is  a  still  more  common  case, 
at  least  with  practicing  Catholics — that  of  the  thorny 
ground.  The  ground  at  least  is  not  so  bad  here, 
but  it  has  never  been  properly  cleared  or  is  never 
kept  weeded.  And  so  the  heart  is  full  of  all  those 
thorns  which  suffocate  the  seed  of  God.  They  are 
of  all  kinds,  these  thorns  and  briars.  There  are  the 
cares  and  anxieties  of  business  life.  There  are  the 
concupiscenses  and  pleasures  of  the  world,  there 
are  the  corroding  love  of  riches  or  the  absorbing 
desire  for  riches,  the  ambitions  and  cumulations,  the 
fears  of  poverty  or  failure,  the  too-anxious  love  of 
wife  and  children,  which  fill  the  heart  and  gradually 
choke  out  all  higher  thoughts  and  cares.  It  is  very 
difficult  for  the  supernatural  to  live  and  grow  in  a 
heart  which  is  absorbed  in  material  cares,  however 
necessary  and  legitimate  these  may  seem.  If  our 
Lord  once  said:  "How  hardly  shall  they  that  have 
riches  enter  into  the  kingdom  of  heaven,"  He  knew 
well  that  poverty  has  its  dangers  also.  I  mean 
the  poverty  which  is  not  content  to  leave  the  thought 
for  the  morrow  to  its  God. 

And  so  the  soul  is  filled  with  importunate  thoughts, 
which  haunt  it  night  and  day  and  invade  it  even  at 
the  time  of  prayer,  and  turn  the  Sanctuary  of  God 
into  a  place  of  exchange,  and  even  make  the  Sacra- 
ments seem  a  business  of  minor  importance. 

These  thorns  cruelly  lacerate  and  tear  men's 
hearts,  and  yet  they  will  not  tear  them  out;  they 
choke  and  oppress  them,  and  yet  they  seem  to  love 
them.  And  so  men  deceive  themselves,  and  they 


350  SERMONS  FOR  THE  YEAR 

cannot  be  brought  to  face  the  old,  old  question — the 
question  which  turned  a  Francis  Xavier  from  a 
frivolous  undergraduate  into  an  Apostle  and  a 
martyr  of  charity — "what  shall  it  profit?" 

These  thorns  destroy  the  very  supernatural  life 
of  the  soul,  if  God  does  not  come  to  its  rescue.  As 
we  pass  through  the  streets  of  our  great  cities,  and 
look  into  the  faces  of  those  who  crowd  them,  what 
do  we  see?  Are  they  not  nearly  all  absorbed,  it  is 
evident, in  earthly,  sordid  cares?  There  is  no  peace 
to  be  found  in  these  faces  save,  perhaps,  when  we 
meet  some  poor  nun  going  about  her  errands  of 
charity.  Then,  indeed,  we  are  struck  by  the  con- 
trast. 

4.  For  if  these  are  the  sad  sides  of  the  picture,  yet 
it  has  a  joyful  side  also.  There  is  at  least  some  good 
ground  which  brings  forth  an  abundant  harvest  to 
gladden  the  sower's  heart.  And  then,  indeed,  in 
his  wonder  and  amazement,  he  thanks  the  giver  of 
all  good,  for  though  he  has  sown,  and  even  watered, 
yet  he  knows  well  that  it  is  God  alone  who  "gives 
the  increase."  Dai  Deus  incrementum. 

"Some  an  hundred  fold,  some  sixty  fold  and  some 
thirty  fold,"  says  our  dear  I/ord  joyously.  (Matt. 
XIII;  8.)  And  holy  men  have  told  us,  that  those 
who  bring  forth  the  thirty  fold  are  Christians  in  the 
world,  sixty  fold  is  the  harvest  of  devout  religious, 
who  have  left  all  for  the  name  and  love  of  Christ, 
while  the  hundred  fold  is  the  portion  of  the  Blessed 
Martyrs,  who  have  given  their  very  life-blood  for 
His  dear  sake. 


SEXAGESIMA  351 

5.  Saying  these  things,  He  cried  out :  "He  that 
hath  ears  to  hear,  let  him  hear." 

These  words,  dear  brethren,  are  for  us.  This 
parable  was  not  meant  merely  for  those  Galilean 
peasants  who  first  heard  it — it  was  meant  for  all  of 
us.  Have  we  indeed  ears  to  hear,  and  hearts  to 
understand? 

Let  us  ponder  well  over  this  divine  teaching  which 
our  Holy  Mother  Church  puts  before  us  to-day. 
Let  us  ask  ourselves  seriously  to  which  class  do  we, 
each  of  us,  belong.  Ah,  we  are  blessed  indeed,  if 
we  hearken  and  consider,  for  therein  lies  our  safety 
and  our  peace. 

Let  us  make  quite  sure  whether  our  hearts  are 
fertile  soil,  softened  by  the  dews  of  grace,  ready  for 
the  divine  seed  whenever  it  may  fall,  or  whether 
they  are  hardened  by  the  crust  of  unforgiven  sin, 
or  have  a  mere  shallow  pretense  of  good,  masking 
the  rock  of  evil  beneath,  or,  again,  are  choked  and 
burdened  by  every  kind  of  distraction  and  earthly 
care.  Let  us  make  sure,  and  then,  by  God's  grace, 
and  in  His  name,  let  us  set  to  work  and  cultivate 
the  ground  while  there  is  yet  time.  "For  the  night 
cometh  when  no  man  can  work."  (Dom  Bede 
Camm.  O.  S.  B.) 


352  SERMONS  FOR  THE  YEAR 

SEXAGESIMA 

(From  the  I/esson.) 

"But  for  myself  I  will  glory  nothing,  but  in  my 
infirmities.'1  (II  Cor.  XII;  2.) 

You  have  heard  read  the  lesson  of  this  Sunday, 
and  you  will  have  noticed  that  it  is  entirely  taken 
up  with  the  narrative  of  what  the  great  apostles  of 
the  gentiles  had  done  and  suffered  for  the  gospel  of 
Jesus  Christ.  And  not  only  the  lesson,  but  the  other 
parts  of  the  divine  office  for  this  Sunday  are  full  of 
allusions  to  the  same  apostle.  The  reason  of  this 
is  to  be  found  in  the  fact  that  the  Church  has,  from 
time  immemorial,  fixed  the  station  for  to-day  at  the 
Basilica  of  St.  Paul,  without  the  walls  of  Rome. 
The  Church  has  associated  the  greater  solemnities  of 
the  year,  and  the  penitential  seasons  with  certain 
fixed  stations.  She  has  selected,  out  of  the  more 
ancient  and  venerable  sanctuaries  of  the  holy  City, 
some  particular  church,  where  the  station  that  day 
is  to  be  kept ;  that  is  to  say,  whither  the  faithful  are 
invited  to  assemble,  to  assist  at  the  celebration  of 
the  holy  mysteries,  to  venerate  the  relics  of  the  mar- 
tyrs, to  pray  for  the  intentions  of  the  sovereign 
Pontiff,  for  the  wants  of  the  universal  Church,  and 
for  their  own  spiritual  and  temporal  necessities.  It 
is  not  in  our  power  to  join  bodily  the  throngs  of  pious 
pilgrims,  who  are,  at  this  moment,  wending  their 
way  to  the  hallowed  Basilica  of  St.  Paul,  but  we  can 
join  them  in  spirit.  And  we  can  and  ought,  in  union 
with  the  mind  of  the  Church,  meditate  this  day  upon 


SEXAGESIMA  353 

some  of  the  points  which  are  revealed  to  us  for  our 
instruction  in  this  day's  lesson.  (1)  The  labour 
and  sufferings  of  St.  Paul,  in  the  great  work  of  the 
conversion  of  the  Gentiles.  (2)  His  spiritual  trials. 
(3)  The  lesson  we  are  to  derive  to  ourselves  from 
this  consideration. 

(1)  It  is  not  necessary  for  me  to  recapitulate  to 
you  those  many  sufferings  and  persecutions  which 
St.  Paul  underwent,  for  the  sake  of  the  gospel,  as 
you  have  just  heard  them  read.  His  whole  life,  from 
the  first  moment  of  his  conversion  until  his  martyr- 
dom by  the  sword,  was  entirely  spent  in  this  evangel- 
ical work.  He  allowed  himself  no  rest,  day  or 
night;  he  was  the  servant  of  all  men,  as  he  says  of 
himself.  (I  Cor.  IX;  19.)  Again,  he  counts  it  his 
greatest  happiness  to  spend  himself  and  to  be  spent 
in  the  great  work  of  converting  souls  to  Christ. 
(II  Cor.  XII;  15.)  If  we  ask  ourselves — whence  all 
this  zeal,  this  ceaseless  ardour,  this  utter  self- 
sacrifice,  we  shall  find  that  it  sprang  from  a  lively 
faith,  and  a  just  appreciation  of  those  immortal 
souls  which  had  been  redeemed  by  the  Blood  of 
Jesus  Christ.  From  the  moment  that  this  faith  was 
infused  into  him,  and  that  his  eyes  were  opened  to 
the  truth,  he  devoted  himself,  heart  and  soul,  to  the 
one  great  work  of  preaching  the  gospel  and  of  con- 
veying the  good  tidings  of  salvation  to  the  utter- 
most parts  of  the  earth.  In  the  accomplishment  of 
this  work,  no  obstacle,  however  insurmountable, 
could  daunt  him;  he  shrank  from  no  indignity;  no 
persecution  or  calumny  could  induce  him  to  swerve 


354  SERMONS  FOR  THE  YEAR 

for  a  single  instant,  or  by  a  single  hair's-breadth, 
from,  the  path  which  divine  revelation  had  pointed 
out  to  him.  Nay,  these  obstacles,  these  ignominies, 
these  persecutions  and  calumnies  only  seemed  to 
add  fuel  to  his  ardour,  and  to  make  him  labour  more 
strenuously  in  the  work  of  saving  souls. 

(2)  It  would  seem  that  one  who  had  undergone 
so  much  for  Christ  would  have  been  exempt  from 
any  interior  trials  But  such  was  not  the  case.  In 
fact,  such  is  not  usually  the  case,  in  the  ordinary 
course  of  God's  Providence.  We  know  that  that 
Providence  orders  all  things  for  the  good  of  the  elect 
(Rom.  VIII;  28);  and  such  interior  trials  are  neces- 
sary for  our  spiritual  discipline  and  perfection.  The 
lives  of  the  Saints  prove  to  us  that  God  is  wont  to 
try  His  most  faithful  servants  by  the  severest  trials, 
in  order,  as  St.  Peter  says:  "That  the  trial  of  your 
faith,  much  more  precious  than  gold  (which  is  tried 
by  the  fire),  may  be  found  unto  praise  and  glory  and 
honour,  at  the  appearing  of  Jesus  Christ."  (I  Pet. 
I,  7.)  Indeed,  we  find  that  our  apostle  gloried  in 
these  interior  trials,  or  infirmities,  as  he  calls  them; 
and  that  he  set  more  store  by  them  than  he  did  by 
all  else  that  he  had  suffered  for  the  name  of  Christ. 
Because,  whilst  on  the  one  hand,  the  greatness  of 
the  revelations  that  were  vouchsafed  to  him,  and  the 
persecutions  he  had  suffered  were  apt  to  extol  him, 
and  cause  him  to  think  himself  something,  whereas 
he  was  nothing ;  on  the  other  hand,  these  interior  trials 
and  temptations  kept  him  in  humility,  and  in  the 
consciousness  of  his  own  weakness  and  nothingness 


SEXAGESIMA  355 

apart  from  divine  grace.  For,  my  brethren,  all 
spiritual  writers  are  agreed  that  humility  is  the 
foundation  of  all  sanctity;  and  that  the  height  of 
perfection  which  any  one  reaches,  is  proportioned  to 
the  depth  of  his  humility.  What,  then,  can  be 
more  salutary  for  our  spiritual  discipline,  than  those 
very  trials,  vexations,  and  humiliations,  of  which  we 
so  unreasonably  complain,  as  if  they  were  drawbacks 
and  hindrances,  and  not,  as  they  really  are,  helps 
and  inducements,  to  greater  holiness  and  perfection  ? 
Thus,  St.  Paul  tells  us  that  "a  sting  of  the  flesh  was 
given  to  him,  an  angel  of  Satan  to  buffet  him." 
This  is  variously  interpreted,  but  it  is  commonly 
taken  to  mean  a  temptation  of  the  flesh;  than  which 
certainly  nothing  could  be  more  humiliating  to  one 
who  had  been  caught  up  into  Paradise,  to  the  third 
heaven,  and  had  heard  secret  words  which  it  is  not 
given  to  man  to  utter. 

(3)  In  the  third  place,  my  brethren,  what  are 
we  to  learn  from  this  day's  lesson?  The  first  con- 
sideration that  must  strike  us  is  the  value  of  our 
immortal  souls.  For  the  holy  apostle  suffered  and 
toiled  as  he  did,  purely  out  of  zeal  for  saving  souls. 
He  knew  the  value  of  them;  and  he  was  never  tired 
of  reminding  the  faithful  that  "they  were  bought 
with  a  great  price."  (I  Cor.  VI;  20.)  Is  it  not  sad 
to  see  how  reckless  and  indifferent  men  are  about 
their  own  eternal  interests,  when  St.  Paul,  and  those 
apostolical  missionaries  who  have  been  called  like 
him  to  the  ministry,  thought  no  sacrifice  too  great 
to  make  for  the  conversion  of  one  soul? 


356  SERMONS  FOR  THE  YEAR 

Next,  we  ought  to  learn  from  this  Apostle's  ex- 
ample, as  well  as  from  his  preaching,  that  all  those 
who  wish  to  live  piously  in  Christ  Jesus  must  suffer 
persecution  (II  Tim.  Ill;  12);  that  the  Kingdom  of 
heaven  suffers  violence,  and  it  is  the  violent  who 
bear  it  away.  (Matt.  XI;  12.)  That  is  to  say,  that 
heaven  is  a  prize  which  must  be  won  by  a  violent 
struggle  with  all  the  powers  of  darkness.  (Col.  I; 
13.)  So  convinced  was  the  apostle  of  the  necessity 
of  this  conflict  with  the  enemies  of  the  soul,  that,  not 
satisfied  with  all  his  labours  and  sufferings,  he 
chastised  his  body,  and  brought  it  into  subjection, 
lest,  perhaps,  when  he  had  preached  to  others,  he 
himself  should  become  reprobate.  It  was  by  this 
constant  watchfulness  over  himself,  and  by  his 
mortification,  that  he  became,  as  it  were,  trans- 
formed; that  he  was  able  to  say:  "Now  I  live;  not  I, 
but  Christ  liveth  in  me."  Having  thus,  as  it  were,  an- 
nihilated himself,  and  animated  himself  with  the  per- 
fect Spirit  of  Christ,  His  divine  meekness,  patience, 
charity  and  humility,  he  could  then  say  with  con- 
fidence, that  he  carried  the  marks  of  Christ's  pre- 
cious Wounds  in  his  own  body  (Gal.  VI;  17);  that 
with  Him  he  was  nailed  to  the  cross  (Gal.  II;  19); 
that  he  would  glory  in  nothing  save  in  the  cross  of 
our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  (Gal.  VI;  14);  that  he  could 
say  with  truth,  that  he  did  not  reckon  himself  to 
know  anything  at  all,  except  Jesus  Christ,  and  Him 
crucified.  (II  Cor.  II;  2.) 

No  wonder  that  he  was  the  chosen  instrument 
in  the  hands  of  God,  to  beat  down,  by  the  humility 


SEXAGESIMA  357 

of  the  cross,  the  pride  of  the  world;  and  to  subject 
so  many  nations  to  the  yoke  of  Christ  and  the  humil- 
ity of  the  gospel.  The  same  graces,  my  brethren, 
are  offered  to  us ;  the  same  means  are  at  our  com- 
mand; if  not  so  abundantly,  at  least  sufficiently  to 
enable  us  to  overcome  our  spiritual  enemies;  to 
transform  ourselves  into  the  likeness  of  our  Lord 
and  Master,  Jesus  Christ. 

Lastly,  from  the  example  of  his  interior  trials,  let 
us  learn  the  great  duty  of  patience  and  humility 
under  these  visitations  of  God's  fatherly  Providence. 
As  long  as  we  are  in  the  body,  we  shall  be  subject  to 
temptation;  but  temptation  is  not  sin  as  long  as  we 
do  not  yield  to  it.  It  is  a  trial  of  our  virtue, 
from  which,  if  we  are  faithful,  we  shall  issue  more 
vigorous  than  before,  and  confirmed  in  grace.  In- 
deed, what  can  our  virtue  be  worth,  unless  it  has 
been  proved  by  trial  and  temptation!  Temptation, 
then,  is  a  necessary  part  of  Christian  discipline. 
We  may,  indeed,  humbly  ask,  as  the  apostle  did,  to 
be  delivered  from  it;  but  if  God  sees  it  expedient 
for  us,  let  us  be  satisfied  with  that  consoling  anwser: 
"My  grace  is  sufficient  for  thee."  Not  that  we  have 
any  sufficiency  of  ourselves,  as  of  ourselves,  for  our 
sufficiency  is  from  God  (II  Cor.  Ill ;  5) ;  but  the  Power 
of  God  is  made  more  manifest  in  our  infirmity;  and 
the  grace  of  God  is  wont  to  help  those  most  abund- 
antly who  are  most  diffident  of  themselves,  and 
most  conscious  of  their  own  weakness  and  nothing- 
ness. 

Let  us,  then,  earnestly  invoke  the  intercession  of 


358  SERMONS  FOR  THE  YEAR 

this  great  apostle,  and  strive  to  imitate  his  example, 
that  we  may  labour  more  than  we  have  hitherto 
done,  to  win  that  crown  of  life  which  the  Lord,  the 
just  Judge,  will  give  to  them  that  love  Him,  and 
who  shall  persevere  in  His  love  and  Service  faith- 
fully to  the  end. 


SEXAGESIMA. 

(Another  Sermon.    Abridged  from  Bourdaloue.) 

"The  seed  is  the  Word  of  God.'1     (Luke  VIII;  11.) 

In  the  parable  which  forms  the  subject  of  this 
Sunday's  gospel,  and  which  our  Lord  has  Himself 
condescended  to  explain  to  us,  we  may  find,  my  dear 
brethren,  abundant  matter  for  serious  consideration. 
To  which  of  the  classes  alluded  to  by  our  Lord  do 
you  belong?  Can  you  flatter  yourselves  that  you 
are  indeed  of  those  who,  "in  a  good  and  perfect 
heart,  hearing  the  Word,  keep  it;  and  bring  forth 
fruit  in  patience?"  If  so,  where  are  these  fruits? 
Year  after  year,  Sunday  after  Sunday,  you  hear  the 
Word  of  God  preached  to  you.  Where  are  the 
fruits?  What  vices  have  you  learned  to  subdue; 
what  virtue  have  you  acquired;  what  advance  in 
the  way  of  perfection  have  you  made?  And  if  to 
these  questions  an  unsatisfactory  answer  must  be 
returned,  as  I  am  afraid  it  must,  in  many  cases, 
then,  my  dear  brethren,  let  us  enquire  into  the 
causes  of  this  deplorable  sterility.  Do  not,  as  some 
are  wont  to  do,  lay  the  blame  on  the  seed,  for  that 


SEXAGESIMA  359 

is  all  divine;  nor  on  the  sower,  for  he  is  God's  minis- 
ter; but  taught  by  our  divine  Master's  precept,  let 
us  lay  all  the  blame  in  the  proper  quarter — the  un- 
grateful soil  in  which  it  is  sown.  I  say  we  cannot 
blame  the  seed,  for  that  is  all  divine,  inasmuch  as 
our  Lord  declares  that  the  seed  is  the  Word  of  God. 
Now,  as  St.  Bernard  points  out,  the  Word  of  God  is 
threefold ;  there  is  the  Word  made  Flesh,  the  Incar- 
nate God  given  to  the  world,  in  the  vesture  of  our 
humanity,  by  the  ever-blessed  Virgin  Mary.  Second- 
ly, there  is  the  spoken  Word,  clothed  in  the  forms 
of  human  speech,  and  given  to  the  world  by  our 
holy  Mother,  the  Church.  Thirdly,  there  is  the 
Word  of  grace,  conceived  and  brought  forth  in  the 
soul  of  man  by  the  operation  of  the  Holy  Spirit. 
Now,  this  threefold  Word  is  one  Word;  for  these 
three  are  one.  (I  John.  V;  8.)  Let  none,  therefore, 
dispute  that  this  seed  which  is  sown  within  you — 
this  Word  of  God — is  something  altogether  divine. 
Moreover,  I  say  that  you  cannot  blame  the  sower, 
for  he  is  God's  minister.  When  he  announces  to 
you  the  Word  of  God  from  this  sacred  place,  it  is 
not  his  Word,  but  God's  Word,  which  you  hear. 
"He  that  heareth  you,  heareth  Me;  and  he  that 
despiseth  you,  despiseth  Me."  (Luke  X;  16.)  For 
who  is  he,  and  who  sent  him?  "No  one  taketh  the 
honour  to  himself,  but  he  that  is  called  by  God,  as 
Aaron  was."  (Heb.  V;  4.)  It  is,  therefore,  your 
duty  so  to  account  of  them,  as  of  the  ministers  of 
Christ;  and  the  dispensers  of  the  mysteries  of  God." 
(I  Cor.  IV;  1.) 


360  SERMONS  FOR  THE  YEAR 

If,  then,  you  leave  out  of  view  this  their  sacred 
character,  and  regard  their  words  as  something  per- 
sonal to  themselves,  and  not  as  God's  message  to 
you,  how  can  you  hope  to  derive  any  lasting  fruit? 
Depend  upon  it,  my  brethren,  the  words  you  hear 
will  be  to  you  just  what  you  take  them  to  be.  If 
you  listen  to  them  as  the  Words  of  God,  they  will 
be  the  Word  of  God  to  you,  and  the  seed  of  a  beauti- 
ful harvest;  but  if  you  listen  to  them  as  the  words 
of  man,  they  will  be  the  word  of  man  to  you;  and 
what  can  be  more  miserably  unprofitable,  more 
barren  of  spiritual  fruit,  than  mere  human  speech! 
There  are  now  some  scores  of  people  listening  to  me 
at  this  moment;  the  Word  which  reaches  their  ears 
is  one  and  the  same  to  all;  will  the  fruit  be  the  same? 
Nothing  of  the  kind,  my  brethren;  some  may,  I 
'trust,  by  God's  grace,  yield  lasting  fruit,  thirty  fold, 
sixty  fold,  some  a  hundred  fold.  Others,  again,  may 
yield  but  a  scanty  crop,  which  will  soon  be  withered 
up,  trampled  under  foot  or  devoured;  whilst  others 
may  reap  the  malediction  which  falls  on  those  who 
receive  the  grace  of  God  in  vain.  (Hebr.  VI;  8.) 
Now,  to  what  is  this  astonishing  diversity  of  effect 
owing?  It  is  owing  to  the  various  dispositions  with 
which  we  hear  the  Word  of  God,  whether  or  not 
we  receive  it  with  a  good  and  perfect,  or  with  a  more 
or  less  good  and  perfect  heart,  and  keep  it,  and  so 
bring  forth  fruit  in  patience. 

If,  my  brethren,  we  were  thoroughly  penetrated 
with  this  truth,  that  the  word  we  hear  is  the  Word 
of  God,  how  different  would  be  our  dispositions  in 


SBXAGESIMA  361 

listening  to  it  from  those  which  animate  us  at 
present!  Instead  of  listening  with  yawning  impa- 
tience, with  sleepy  indifference,  with  idle  curiosity 
or  with  captious  criticism,  we  should  bring  to  the 
hearing  of  the  Word  of  God  a  great  recollection  of 
spirit,  a  humble  sentiment  of  our  own  un worthiness 
and  nothingness  in  comparison  with  Him  who 
speaks  to  us.  We  should  bring  a  real  intention  to 
profit  by  what  we  hear,  a  childlike  docility  in  learn- 
ing what  is  our  duty,  and  how  to  practice  it;  an 
heroic  resolution  to  put  in  practice  whatever  can 
tend  to  our  spiritual  welfare;  a  total  abandonment 
of  ourselves  to  the  inspirations  of  God's  grace,  with 
which  He  will  enlighten  and  move  us.  Yes,  my 
brethren,  if  dispositions  such  as  these  were  not 
wanting  to  you,  it  would  matter  little  what  words 
were  uttered  from  this  pulpit.  They  would  be,  in 
any  case,  the  Word  of  God  to  you:  "living  and 
effectual,  and  more  piercing  than  any  two-edged 
sword;  and  reaching  unto  the  division  of  the  soul 
and  the  spirit,  of  the  joints  also  and  the  marrow,  a 
discoverer  of  the  thoughts  and  intents  of  the  heart." 
(Hebr.  IV;  12.)  If  there  is  any  truth  in  what  I  have 
advanced,  if  the  seed  is  one  and  the  same  Word  of 
God  everywhere,  and  varies  in  its  effects  only  by 
reason  of  the  various  kind  of  soil  in  which  it  is  sown 
and  of  the  various  dispositions  with  which  it  is  re- 
ceived, it  follows  also,  my  dear  brethren,  that  the 
sower  is  the  same  in  every  case,  and  that  it  matters 
nothing  at  all  by  whom  the  Word  of  God  is  preached, 
since  he  is  but  the  minister  or  agent  who  contributes 


362  SERMONS  FOR  THE  YEAR 

nothing  of  his  own  to  the  vital  force  and  efficacy  of 
the  seed,  which,  by  whomsoever  it  is  scattered,  will 
work  its  effects  in  a  heart  that  is  prepared  to  re- 
ceive it. 

But,  my  brethren,  there  is  another  point  which 
well  deserves  our  consideration.  We  have  hitherto 
considered  of  how  much  spiritual  grace  and  profit 
we  deprive  ourselves  by  our  defective  dispositions. 
But  does  the  mischief  end  here?  Unhappily  no, 
my  dear  brethren.  We  cannot  go  away  from  a 
sermon,  and  congratulate  ourselves  that  if  we  are 
no  better  for  it,  we  are  at  all  events,  no  worse.  No, 
my  brethren,  "the  word  which  proceeds  out  of  My 
mouth  shall  not  return  to  Me  void."  The  Word  of 
God  is  a  grace  of  God,  and  a  great  grace;  and  the 
grace  of  God  may  not  be  received  in  vain.  Either 
we  accept  it  for  our  correction  and  spiritual  profit, 
or  we  reject  it  for  our  condemnation.  The  Word  oj 
God  is  the  Word  of  eternal  life.  "Lord,  to  whom 
shall  we  go?"  said  St.  Peter.  "Thou  hast  the  Words 
of  eternal  life."  (John  VI;  69.)  But  if  that  Word 
is  rejected,  then  it  becomes  a  sentence  of  eternal 
death.  Our  Lord  Himself  says  of  His  divine  Word : 
"The  Words  which  I  have  spoken  to  you,  they  are 
Spirit,  and  they  are  life."  (64).  Hence,  to  reject 
or  to  neglect  that  Word,  is  to  deprive  our  soul  of  its 
spiritual  sustenance  and  its  supernatural  life. 

For,  bear  in  mind,  my  brethren,  that  the  preaching 
of  the  Word  of  God  by  your  pastors,  enters,  as  an 
essential  part,  into  that  great  plan  of  redemption, 
by  which  the  salvation  of  each  individual  soul 


SEXAGESIMA  363 

among  you  is  to  be  brought  about.  "It  pleased 
God,"  says  St.  Paul,  "by  the  foolishness  of  our 
preaching  to  save  them  that  believe."  (I  Cor.  1; 
21.)  By  neglecting  to  hear  that  preaching,  or  by 
remaining  indocile  to  its  teaching,  we  thwart  the 
designs  of  God  in  our  regard ;  and  !  how  shall  we  do 
such  a  thing  without  imminent  peril  of  our  salvation ! 
Let  each  one  consider  the  many  and  various  temp- 
tations to  which  he  is  subject;  the  many  trials  and 
difficulties  he  has  to  encounter  in  the  routine  of 
daily  life;  the  many  perplexities  and  anxieties  with 
which  his  mind  is  harrassed;  and  then  let  us  ask 
ourselves  what  is  the  ordinary  means  which  Provi- 
dence has  ordained  for  us,  to  enable  us  to  overcome 
these  temptations,  to  support  these  trials,  to  solve 
these  perplexities,  and  to  allay  these  anxieties, 
if  not  the  hearing  of  the  Word  of  God?  Be  sure  of 
this,  my  brethren;  if  we  are  to  be  saved  at  all,  we 
must  be  saved  in  God's  way  and  not  in  our  own. 
Consequently,  if  we  forsake  the  ordinary  means 
which  God's  Providence  has  provided  for  us,  it  is 
vain  for  us  to  hope  to  find  out  means  of  our  own. 
But,  perhaps  you  will  object:  "How  can  the  same 
sermon  or  instruction  meet  the  requirements  of  each 
individual  in  the  congregation;  seeing  that  each  has 
his  own  peculiar  temptations,  his  own  trials,  his  own 
perplexities,  and  so  forth?"  If,  my  brethren,  you 
have  paid  but  moderate  attention  to  what  I  have 
said,  this  objection  will  not  have  occurred  to  you; 
or  if  it  has,  the  solution  will  also  have  suggested 
itself  to  you.  The  Word  of  God  then,  because  it  is 


364  SERMONS  FOR  THE  YEAR 

the  Word  of  God  and  not  the  word  of  man,  adapts 
itself  to  the  circumstances  and  requirements  of  those 
who  hear  it;  so  that  the  Word  of  God  is  to  the  soul 
whatever  the  dispositions  and  exigencies  of  that 
soul  demand.  Let  me  further  illustrate  this  impor- 
tant truth  by  an  example  from  the  Old  Testament. 
In  the  Book  of  Exodus,  we  read  that  God  fed  His 
people  in  the  wilderness  with  a  miraculous  food 
which  fell  from  heaven,  and  lay  like  hoar-frost  on 
the  ground.  (Exod.  XVI  13,  15.)  Now,  it  was 
small  and  white  and  insignificant  to  look  at,  but 
yet  the  people  of  Israel  were  sustained  by  that  food, 
during  the  forty  years  of  their  wandering  in  the 
desert  until  they  reached  the  promised  land.  We 
read  also  that  the  children  of  Israel  gathered,  some 
more  and  some  less,  of  this  manna.  Yet  neither 
had  he  more  that  had  gathered  more,  nor  did  he 
find  less  that  had  provided  less,  but  every  one  found 
that  he  had  according  to  what  he  was  able  to  con- 
sume. Moreover,  we  learn  that  according  to  the 
dispositions  of  those  who  received  it,  this  insipid- 
looking  food  was  endowed  with  the  sweetness  of 
every  taste.  Now,  my  brethren,  is  not  this  a  graphic 
type  of  the  efficacy  of  the  Word  of  God?  which 
clothed  in  the  frail  forms  of  human  speech,  may 
seem  weak,  feeble  and  insignificant  to  human  sense; 
but  if  it  is  received  in  the  Spirit  of  faith  and  of  pious 
docility,  it  becomes  in  very  truth,  the  power  of  God 
unto  salvation  to  every  believer.  (Rom.  I;  16.) 
Take  up  then,  my  brethren,  reverently  and  devoutly, 
this  heavenly  manna,  and  in  the  strength  thereof 


SEXAGESIM  365 

pursue  your  earthly  pilgrimage,  until  you  reach  the 
promised  land  of  your  heavenly  inheritance. 


SEXAGESIMA. 

(Another  Sermon.    Abridged  from  Bossuet.) 

"Gladly,  therefore,  will  I  glory  in  my  infirmities, 
that  the  power  of  Christ  may  dwell  in  me."  (II  Cor. 
XII;  9.) 

According  to  the  ancient  discipline  of  the  Church, 
the  Station  on  this  Sunday  is  held  at  the  tomb  of 
St.  Paul,  in  Rome;  that  is  to  say,  the  Pope,  on  this 
day  used  to  celebrate  the  divine  office  in  that  Basil- 
ica; and  the  faithful  wend  their  way  in  thousands 
to  pay  their  devotions  at  that  venerable  shrine. 
You  have  heard,  too,  how  the  lesson  of  holy  Mass  is 
wholly  taken  up  with  the  narrative  of  what  this 
great  apostle  has  done  and  suffered  for  the  propa- 
gation of  the  gospel:  whilst  the  collect  of  the  Mass, 
which  strikes,  as  it  were,  the  key-note  of  our  devo- 
tional sentiments,  commemorates  his  memory,  and 
invokes  his  intercession. 

Such  being  the  case,  I  think  I  cannot  do  better 
than  invite  you  to  dwell  for  a  few  moments  on  the 
life  of  this  apostle,  and  to  study  the  lesson  which  his 
example  furnishes  to  us.  But  how  shall  I  ade- 
quately treat  such  a  vast  subject  within  the  limits 
of  a  discourse?  When  we  call  to  mind  how  many 
nations  he  has  conquered  for  Christ,  how  many 
labours  he  has  undergone,  how  many  mysteries  of 


366  SERMONS  FOR  THE  YEAR 

faith  he  has  revealed,  what  examples  he  has  given 
of  perfect  charity,  we  cannot  but  feel  overwhelmed 
with  the  task;  and  one  is  at  a  loss  to  know  how  to 
begin,  or  where  to  end. 

Let  us  then,  consider  the  labours  of  St.  Paul,  in 
his  apostolical  mission  of  preaching  the  gospel;  in 
the  combats  which  he  sustained,  and  in  the  govern- 
ment and  ordering  of  the  Churches  which  he  founded. 
In  all  these  particulars  we  shall  find  that  he  took 
his  stand  upon  the  great  principle  which  he  has  an- 
nounced in  the  words  I  have  chosen  for  our  text, 
namely,  his  own  weakness,  that  the  power  of  Christ 
may  dwell  in  him.  For  he  knew  well  that  he  exer- 
cised his  ministry  in  behalf  of  One  Who,  being  in 
the  form  of  God,  did  not  hesitate  to  annihilate  Him- 
self to  accomplish  our  redemption.  Full  of  this 
thought,  St.  Paul  sees  weakness  triumphant  over 
all;  he  believes  that  his  preaching  will  convert  souls, 
because  it  is  devoid  of  the  human  elements  of  per- 
suasion; that  he  will  be  victorious  in  every  com- 
bat, because  he  is  denuded  of  earthly  armour  and 
weapons;  that  he  will  command  the  obedience  of 
all  the  faithful  by  abasing  himself  under  their  feet, 
and  making  himself  their  slave.  Thus,  he  could 
truly  say  of  himself:  "When  I  am  weak,  then  am  I 
powerful."  (10.)  For  his  power  of  persuasion  is  in 
simplicity  of  speech;  he  conquers  by  suffering;  he 
rules  by  submitting. 

Let  us  hear  from  St.  Paul  himself  what  was  the 
doctrine  and  what  the  kind  of  preaching,  by  which 
he  hoped  to  convert  the  world,  Roman,  Greek  and 


367 

Barbarian.  "I  judged  not  myself,"  he  says,  "to 
know  anything  among  you,  but  Jesus  Christ,  and 
Him  crucified."  (I  Cor.  II;  2.)  That  is  to  say, 
nothing  but  what  is  shocking  to  popular  prejudice; 
nothing  but  what  seems  to  worldly  wisdom  sheer 
folly  and  extravagance.  But  perhaps,  he  will  dress 
up  this  strange  doctrine  in  a  specious  and  plausible 
form,  and  so  tickle  men's  ears  with  the  arts  of  a 
captious  rhetoric?  Nothing  of  the  kind.  The  mes- 
sage he  brings  shall  be  couched  in  terms  as  rude  and 
uncouth  as  the  doctrine  itself  seems  incredible. 
"My  speech,"  he  says,  "and  my  preaching,  was  not 
in  the  persuasive  words  of  human  wisdom."  (4.) 
Then  he  goes  on  to  explain  the  meaning  of  this  great 
mystery.  "We  speak  the  wisdom  of  God  in  a  mys- 
tery— a  wisdom  which  is  hidden."  (7.)  What  is 
this  hidden  wisdom?  It  is  Jesus  Christ  Himself. 
He  is  the  Wisdom  of  the  Father,  but  the  Wisdom 
Incarnate,  covered  with  the  infirmity  of  our  flesh, 
and  so  hidden  from  the  sight  of  the  wise  and  great 
ones  of  this  world.  In  preaching  such  a  mystery 
there  is  no  place  for  tricks  of  eloquence.  For  St. 
Paul,  Jesus  Christ  is  everything;  and  the  power  of 
that  holy  Name  will  make  his  preaching  irresistible. 
With  that  holy  Name  in  his  heart  and  on  his  lips,  he 
will  go  to  Greece,  the  mother-land  of  all  that  is  ex- 
quisite in  human  art  and  culture,  and  he  will  estab- 
lish there  more  churches  than  Plato  ever  gained  dis- 
ciples by  his  much  vaunted  philosophy.  He  will 
preach  Jesus  Christ  in  Athens,  and  the  veterans  of 
the  Areopagus  shall  pass  over  to  the  school  of  this 


368  SERMONS  FOR  THE  YEAR 

barbarous  stranger.  More  than  this,  he  will  lay 
beneath  the  Feet  of  the  Crucified  the  fasces  of  a 
Roman  Proconsul.  He  will  make  his  haughty 
judges  tremble  in  their  judgment  seats.  Rome  her- 
self shall  hear  his  voice,  and  shall  one  day  deem 
herself  more  honoured  by  an  epistle  from  his  hand, 
than  by  all  the  eloquent  harangues  of  her  own 
Cicero.  And  why  so?  Because  St.  Paul  has  means 
of  persuasion  which  Greece  never  taught  and  Rome 
never  learned;  a  supernatural  power,  based  upon 
that  which  the  world  despises.  Yes,  in  the  Epistles 
of  St.  Paul,  there  is  a  superhuman  power  which  con- 
vinces against  all  the  artificial  rules  of  rhetoric; 
which  does  not  so  much  persuade,  as  lead  captive  the 
understanding;  the  triumph  of  humility  over  the 
vain  conceit  of  human  prudence. 

Let  us  now  see  St.  Paul  in  his  combats:  how, 
in  these  also,  weakness  triumphs  over  strength;  why 
he  glories  in  his  infirmities  that  the  power  of  Christ 
may  dwell  in  him.  It  is  a  law  of  providence  that  the 
seed  will  not  germinate  and  fructify  unless  watered 
with  the  dews  and  rains  of  heaven.  This  law  pre- 
vails also  in  the  spiritual  world;  and  the  seed  which 
is  the  preaching  of  the  Word  of  God,  will  not  bring 
forth  its  fruits  unless  it  is  watered  with  the  dews  and 
rains  of  heavenly  grace;  and  these  flood-gates  of 
mercy  can  only  be  opened  by  trials  and  suffering. 
St.  Paul  was  prepared  for  this  from  the  first  moment 
of  his  conversion,  and  of  his  calling  to  the  apostolate, 
when  it  was  revealed  to  him  what  great  things  he 
should  suffer  for  the  sake  of  Christ  and  His  gospel. 


SEXAGESIMA  369 

In  undergoing  these  sufferings  he  did  but  imitate  his 
divine  Master,Who  made  His  preaching  and  teaching 
fruitful  by  the  shedding  of  His  Blood;  that  Blood, 
which  as  St.  Paul  says,  "speaketh  better  than  that  of 
Abel."  (Heb.  XII ;  24.)  For  the  blood  of  Abel  cried 
for  vengeance;  the  Blood  of  our  Redeemer  calls 
down  the  torrents  of  divine  mercy.  The  preaching  of 
our  divine  Lord  only  succeeded  in  gathering  a  handful 
of  disciples  round  Him.  It  was  His  death  upon  the 
cross,  with  all  its  attendant  suffering,  and  the  out- 
pouring of  His  Blood  which,  as  He  Himself  said, 
should  "draw  all  things  to  Himself."  (Joh.  XII; 
32.)  Let  us  then  see  how  St.  Paul  walked  in  his 
divine  Master's  footsteps.  Writing  to  the  Thes- 
salonians,  he  says:  "You  know,  brethren,  that  our 
entrance  in  unto  you  was  not  in  vain."  (I  Thes. 
II;  1.)  What  was  it,  then,  that  emboldened  him — 
that  gave  him  such  confidence  to  go  to  Thessalonica, 
as  to  a  field  of  assured  victory  and  conquest?  He 
himself  tells  us  it  was  the  scourging  unto  blood,  and 
the  chains  which  he  had  just  previously  endured  at 
Philippi.  "But,  having  suffered  before  and  been 
shamefully  treated  (as  you  know)  at  Philippi,  we 
had  confidence  in  our  God  to  speak  unto  you  the 
gospel  of  God."  (2.)  His  heart  is  elated  by  the 
thought  of  the  ignominy  he  has  endured.  His  en- 
try into  one  city  will  be  rendered  fruitful  by  the 
torments  he  has  suffered  in  another.  He  will  preach 
confidently  because  he  has  endured  much.  We  may 
imagine  him  addressing  his  companions  in  these 
terms:  "Come,  brethren,  let  us  go  to  Thessalonica: 


370  SERMONS  FOR  THE  YEAR 

the  blood  we  have  shed  here  affords  us  a  sure  guaran- 
tee of  our  success  there.  Our  bodies  still  bear  the 
marks  of  the  stripes,  and  every  stripe  will  gain  for  us 
a  new  disciple  to  Christ." 

Next,  we  have  to  consider  how  power  was  made 
perfect  in  infirmity,  in  the  government  of  the  Churches 
which  he  established.  Yes,  my  brethren,  the  power 
of  the  Church  of  Christ  is  founded  upon  weak- 
ness. In  this  respect  it  is  distinguished  from 
earthly  sovereignty  and  power.  "The  Kings  of  the 
Gentiles  lord  it  over  them,  and  they  that  have  power 
over  them  are  called  beneficent.  But  you  not  so ;  but 
he  that  is  the  greater  among  you,  let  him  become  as 
the  younger ;  and  he  that  is  the  leader,  as  he  that 
serveth."  (Luke  XXII;  25,  26.)  The  reason  of 
this  is,  my  brethren,  that  the  divine  empire  is  found- 
ed upon  charity.  It  is  charity  which  rules  in  the 
pastors,  and  which  obeys  in  the  subjects.  Whether 
it  rules  or  obeys  it  is  still  charity,  always  sweet,  al- 
ways patient,  always  tender  and  compassionate; 
never  haughty  nor  imperious.  Such  an  example  of 
divine  charity  in  the  government  of  the  Church  did 
St.  Paul  furnish,  who  could  truly  say  that  he  made 
himself  weak  in  order  that  he  might  gain  the  weak. 
(I  Cor.  IX;  22.)  In  this  respect  also,  imitating  his 
divine  Master,  Who,  he  himself  tells  us,  was  a  "high- 
priest  Who  could  have  compassion  on  them  that  are 
ignorant  and  that  err;  because  He  Himself  also  is 
compassed  with  infirmity."  (Hebr.  V;  2.)  In- 
spired with  the  same  spirit,  you  have  heard  this 
great  apostle  crying  out:  "Who  is  weak,  and  I  am 


SEXAGESIMA  371 

not  weak?  Who  is  scandalized,  and  I  am  not  on 
fire?  (II  Cor.  XI;  29.)  The  charity  which  inspired 
him  made  him  sensitive  to  every  mood  which 
diversified  the  members  of  the  mystical  Body  of 
Christ.  As  St.  Chrysostom  observes :  he,  as  it  were, 
concentrated  in  himself  the  universal  Church;  to 
such  a  degree  did  he  feel  for  and  sympathize  with 
each  of  its  members.  And  we  have  his  own  testi- 
mony to  assure  us  that  this  formed  no  inconsider- 
able part  of  his  sufferings.  He  bore  not  only  his 
own  weaknesses,  but  those  of  others.  He  suffered 
not  only  persecutions  of  which  he  himself  was  the 
object,  but  there  was  not  a  pang  which  any  of  his 
brethren  was  called  on  to  suffer,  which  did  not  pierce 
his  heart.  It  is  this  sensitiveness  of  divine  charity 
which  we,  my  brethren,  should  strive  to  imitate. 
Let  us  learn  from  the  example  of  this  great  apostle 
how  to  weep  with  those  who  weep,  and  to  rejoice 
with  those  who  rejoice,  that  we  may  become  all 
things  to  all  men,  in  order  that  we  may  gain  all.  (I 
Cor.  IX;  22.)  For,  my  brethren,  the  fulfilment 
of  the  whole  law  is  in  charity.  (Rom.  XIII;  10.) 
If  we  have  true  charity,  then  are  we  true  disciples  of 
our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  (Joh.  XIII;  35);  and  as  such, 
co-heirs  with  Him  of  that  Kingdom  where  charity 
reigns  supreme. 


372  SERMONS  FOR  THE  YEAR 

QUINQUAGESIMA. 

(From  the  Gospel.) 

Jesus  said  to  him:  "receive  thy  sight:  thy  faith  hath 
made  thee  whole."  (Luke  XVIII ;  42.) 

The  holy  gospel  of  this  Sunday,  my  dear  brethren, 
furnishes  us  with  a  lively  and  graphic  representation 
of  one  of  those  scenes  which  were  so  common  in  the 
public  life  and  mission  of  our  divine  Lord ;  and  holy 
Church  has  chosen  it  for  this  day's  gospel,  because 
it  contains  elements  of  instruction  and  edification, 
which  are  peculiarly  adapted  to  our  devout  medita- 
tion at  this  time,  when  we  are  just  entering  on  the 
solemn  fast  of  Lent.  Let  us,  then,  in  the  spirit  of 
the  Church,  and  with  the  help  of  God's  grace,  medi- 
tate upon  this  miracle  of  the  healing  of  the  blind 
man. 

Our  blessed  Lord,  then,  Who  was  ever  occupied 
with  His  Father's  business,  (Luke  II;  49)  Who  came 
to  preach  redemption  to  the  captive,  to  give  health 
to  the  sick,  (Is.  LXV;  1)  and  life  to  the  dead,  was  on 
His  way,  intent  upon  His  divine  mission,  accompan- 
ied, as  usual,  by  a  crowd  of  followers.  He  was  just 
drawing  near  the  fair  city  of  palms,  by  the  banks  of 
Jordan.  There,  by  the  road-side,  sat  a  poor  blind 
beggar,  whose  practiced  ear  caught  the  unwonted 
sounds;  and  he  eageily  enquired  of  a  passer-by  what 
it  all  meant.  What  a  thrill  of  joy  went  through  him 
when  he  heard  the  welcome  news  that  Jesus  of  Naza- 
reth was  passing  by!  that  great  Prophet,  Who  had 
wrought  so  many  miracles,  healed  so  many  afflicted 


QUINQUAGESIMA  373 

ones.  The  long-expected  Messiah  was  coming,  was 
already  within  reach  of  his  voice.  It  was  enough  for 
him;  and,  instantly,  he  raised  that  voice  to  cry  for 
pity:  "Jesus,  Son  of  David,  take  pity  on  me."  Here 
let  us  pause,  to  ask  ourselves  what  all  this  signifies. 
For  it  was  written  for  our  instruction.  We  our- 
selves, then,  are  signified  by  this  poor  blind  beggar. 
Only,  his  blindness,  his  destitution,  were  but  a  feeble 
image  of  ours,  which  are  far  more  real,  far  more  op- 
pressive, than  his.  We  sit  by  the  way-side  begging. 
That  is  to  say,  we  are  in  the  busy  throng  of  this 
world's  occupations;  and  we  seek,  in  our  blindness, 
to  pick  up  some  crumbs  of  comfort  from  the  way- 
farers we  mix  with.  Meantime,  a  solemn  warning 
voice  reaches  our  ears:  Jesus  of  Nazareth  is  passing 
by.  The  summons  has  gone  forth:  "Blow  the  trum- 
pet in  Sion ;  sanctify  a  fast ;  call  a  solemn  assembly ; 
gather  together  the  people;  sanctify  the  Church; 
assemble  the  ancients;  gather  together  the  little  ones, 
and  them  that  suck  at  the  breasts.  Between  the 
porch  and  the  altar,  the  priests,  the  Lord's  ministers, 
shall  weep,  and  shall  say:  (Joel  II;  15,  17)  'spare,  O 
Lord,  spare  Thy  people !'  What  is  this  but  the  pierc- 
ing cry  of  the  blind  man:  "Jesus  of  Nazareth,  take 
pity  on  me."  For,  in  very  deed,  He  is  even  now 
passing  by.  This  gospel  you  have  heard  is  an  echo 
of  the  grace  which  has  visited  your  hearts,  and  if 
you,  unhappily,  know  not  the  time  of  your  visita- 
tion, (Luke  XIX;  44)  and  lift  not  up  your  voice  to 
implore  mercy,  He  will  have  passed  by,  and  you  will 
be  left  in  your  blindness  and  desolation. 


374  SERMONS  FOR  THE  YEAR 

''And  they  that  went  before,  rebuked  him  for  crying 
out,  and  bade  him  be  silent."  And  so  we,  my  breth- 
ren, if  we  begin  to  be  in  earnest  about  our  salva- 
tion; if  we  begin  to  set  our  spiritual  house  in  order; 
if  we  begin  to  show  some  signs  of  zeal  and  fervour  in 
God's  service;  shall  find  plenty  to  rebuke,  to  ridicule, 
to  oppose,  to  persecute  us.  But  though  the  world 
may  rebuke  us,  and  seek  to  hinder  our  approach  to 
the  throne  of  grace,  let  us,  nevertheless,  imitate  the 
earnestness  and  perseverance  of  the  blind  man,  who 
only  cried  out  the  more  lustily:  "Son  of  David;  take 
pity  on  me."  The  very  opposition  we  meet  with 
from  the  world  ought  to  incite  us  to  seek  with  greater 
earnestness  the  means  of  grace  which  come  within 
our  reach;  and  those  means  of  grace  will  never  be 
wanting  to  us. 

That  piercing  cry  moved  the  tender  heart  of  Jesus. 
He  stood  still,  and  ordered  the  poor  man  to  be  brought 
before  Him.  We  may  imagine  with  what  feelings  of 
joyful  hope  the  blind  man  cast  himself  at  our  Sav- 
iour's Feet;  turned  his  sightless  orbs  towards  his 
Benefactor's  Face;  and  with  clasped  hands  implored 
His  Pity.  Then  Jesus  asked  him:  "What  wilt  thou 
that  I  do  unto  thee?"  Our  Lord  certainly  did  not 
need  to  be  told.  He  Who  knows  all  things  knew 
well  what  the  poor  man  wanted;  and  his  very  condi- 
tion and  attitude  spoke  eloquently  enough  on  his 
behalf.  But,  it  is  the  way  of  divine  Providence  to 
require  from  us  an  explicit  utterance  of  our  petitions, 
before  they  are  granted.  The  workings  of  the  divine 
Mercy  must  be  preceded  by  a  confession  of  our  miser- 


QUINQUAGESIMA  375 

able  condition;  and  by  a  fervent  outpouring  of  our 
petitions  for  those  special  graces  and  favours  we  seek 
at  God's  Hands.  Such,  my  brethren,  are  the  dis- 
positions we  should  bring  to  the  divine  Mercy-seat 
during  this  holy  season,  when  we  are  seeking  recon- 
ciliation with  Him — a  humble  confession  of  our  guilt, 
a  fervent  prayer  for  those  graces  of  which  we  have 
special  need.  The  time  of  Lent  is  a  time  of  grace: 
Our  Lord  will  be  passing  by.  The  flood-gates  of 
divine  Mercy  will  be  open.  But  if  we  are  not  con- 
scious of  our  own  misery;  if  we  are  so  blind,  as  to  be 
blind  to  our  own  blindness ;  or,  if,  aware  of  our  con- 
dition, we  acquiesce  in  it  with  sullen  apathy,  or  hope- 
less indifference,  then  Lent  will  have  come  in  vain 
for  us;  in  vain  will  Our  Lord  have  traversed  His 
weary  way,  as  far  as  we  are  concerned.  We  shall 
remain  in  our  blindness;  and  go  groping  our  way 
along,  until  we  find  ourselves  plunged  in  the  outer 
darkness,  where  there  is  weeping  and  gnashing  of 
teeth. 

Let  us  then  awake  to  a  consciousness  of  our  condi- 
tion, of  our  misery,  destitution,  and  blindness;  and 
when  our  Lord's  sweet  invitation  is  addressed 
to  us,  let  us  cry  to  Him,  with  all  the  fervour  and  earn- 
estness of  our  inmost  soul :  "Lord,  that  I  may  see: 
that  mine  eyes  may  be  opened  to  Thy  heavenly 
Light ;  that  I  may  see  the  hideous  deformity  of  the 
sins  which  I  commit  so  lightly;  that  I  may  see  the 
vanity  and  emptiness  of  those  worldly  goods  to  which 
I  cling  so  passionately;  that  I  may  see  the  baseness 
of  those  sensual  appetites  which  rule  me  so  tyran- 


376  SERMONS  FOR  THE  YEAR 

nically ;  that  I  may  see  the  true  end  of  my  existence, 
and  direct  all  my  steps  in  accordance  therewith; 
that  I  may  see  the  beauty  of  God's  grace,  and  of 
those  virtues  which  are  the  true  ornaments  of  a 
Christian;  that  I  may  see  on  all  occasions  what  is 
the  good  and  perfect  Will  of  God ;  that  my  eyes  may 
be  enlightened  with  true  spiritual  wisdom;  that  I 
may  discern  between  true  and  false  happiness,  true 
and  false  wisdom;  that  I  may  see,  in  fine,  what  God 
is,  what  I  am;  why  He  has  made  me,  and  what  I  am 
to  do  to  accomplish  that  end."  If  we  humbly  make 
known  our  wants  to  our  divine  L-ord,  He  will  not  fail 
to  hear  and  help  us.  Indeed,  He  is  far  more  eager 
to  assist  us,  than  we  are  to  invoke  His  aid.  He  will 
turn  His  loving  Eyes  towards  us,  and  stretching 
forth  His  Healing  Hand,  He  will  say:  "Receive  thy 
sight;  thy  faith  hath  made  thee  whole." 

Yes,  my  brethren,  so  potent,  so  necessary  is  faith, 
to  the  healing  of  our  Spiritual  maladies,  that  our 
Lord  does  not  hesitate  to  ascribe  the  miracle  to  the 
faith  of  the  recipient,  rather  than  to  the  divine  power 
of  the  worker.  Hence,  we  are  to  conclude  that  as 
faith  is  the  foundation  of  all  spiritual  life,  so  is  it  also 
the  measure  of  the  healing  operations  of  divine  grace 
in  our  souls.  The  more  deeply  rooted  our  faith  is, 
the  more  shall  we  be  convinced  of  our  real  condition, 
and  of  the  need  we  have  of  God's  assistance;  the  more 
earnestly  shall  we  implore  that  assistance;  the  more 
ardently  and  perseveringly  shall  we  make  use  of  all 
the  ordinary  and  extraordinary  means  of  obtaining 
it;  and  the  more  certainly  and  efficaciously  shall  we 


QUINQUAGESIMA  377 

obtain  it;  since  there  is  nothing  which  faith  cannot 
accomplish. 

This,  then,  is  the  conclusion  to  which  we  are 
brought  by  the  meditation  of  this  day's  gospel :  that 
now  is  the  hour  for  us  to  rise  from  sleep ;  for  our  salva- 
tion is  nearer  than  when  we  believed.  (Rom.  XIII. 
11.)  It  is  the  time  to  stir  up  our  faith  in  all  those 
great  and  solemn  truths  and  mysteries  which  form 
the  subject  of  our  meditation  during  this  holy  season : 
to  enter  into  ourselves,  and  realize  our  true  position, 
our  manifold  wants  and  necessities;  to  recognize  the 
approach  of  Him  Who  will  heal  all  our  infirmities ;  to 
excite  ourselves  to  confidence  and  hope  in  His  divine 
Goodness;  and,  lastly,  (though  this  is  by  no  means 
the  least  important  consideration,)  when  we  have 
received  from  our  divine  Lord,  the  cure  of  our  blind- 
ness, and  have  been  restored  to  spiritual  health,  let 
us  not  be  ungrateful  for  so  great  a  benefit;  for  fear 
we  relapse  into  our  former  state;  nay,  for  fear  lest,  in 
punishment  of  our  ingratitude,  our  latter  state  should 
become  worse  than  the  former. 

Rather,  let  us  imitate  the  conduct  of  the  blind 
man;  and  show  our  gratitude  to  our  divine  Bene- 
factor, as  he  did,  by  following  our  blessed  Lord,  by 
walking  in  His  Footsteps,  by  bearing  Him  com- 
pany in  that  painful  pilgrimage  which  He  accom- 
plished on  earth ;  following  Him  even  to  the  ignomin- 
ious cross  on  the  hill  of  Calvary;  that  so  we  may  be 
able  to  follow  Him  even  to  the  unutterable  Glory, 
wherein  He  reigns  in  heaven.  For,  if  we  '  'suffer  with 


378  SERMONS  FOR  THE  YEAR 

Him,"  says  the  apostle,  "we  shall  also  reign  with 
Him."     (Rom.  VIII;  17.) 

Let  us  also  show  our  gratitude  by  glorifying  God ; 
that  is  to  say,  confessing  and  praising  His  holy  Name 
by  our  lives  and  actions;  that,  by  holiness  of  life, 
and  fervour  of  devotion,  we  may  become  the  good 
odour  of  Christ, in  everyplace:  (II  Cor.  II;  15)  that 
others,  seeing  the  good  works,  which  are  the  fruits 
of  God's  grace  within  us,  may  glorify  our  Father 
Who  is  in  heaven:  that,  when  we  have  spent  our- 
selves, and  been  wholly  consumed  in  promoting 
God's  Glory  upon  earth,  we  may  be  worthy  to  join 
those  angelic  choirs  which  sing  the  praises  of  His 
Glory  eternally  in  heaven. 

QUINQUAGESIMA. 
(Prom  the  Lesson.) 

"We  see  now  through  a  glass,  in  a  dark  manner." 
(I  Cor.  XIII;  12.) 

When  the  disciples  of  John  came  to  ask  our  Lord 
if  He  were  indeed  the  expected  Messiah,  our  Lord 
concluded  His  answer  to  them  with  these  remarkable 
words:  "blessed  is  he  that  shall  not  be  scandalized  in 
Me."  (Matt.  XI;  6.)  Again,  the  apostle  St.  Paul 
sums  up  the  gospel  which  he  preached  in  these  terms : 
"We  preach  Christ  crucified,  unto  the  Jews  indeed, 
a  stumbling-block;  and  unto  the  Gentiles,  foolish- 
ness." (I  Cor.  I ;  23.)  That  the  ways  of  God  should 
be  so  mysterious  to  us;  that  revealed  religion  should 
be  full  of  mysteries;  that  there  should  be  so  many 


QUINQUAGESIMA  379 

difficult  and  dark  problems  in  human  life  and  destiny : 
all  this  ought  not  to  surprise  us,  when  we  consider  the 
conditions  under  which  we  exist  in  this  world.  Crea- 
tures of  God,  and  wholly  dependent  on  Him,  we  are 
yet  separated  from  Him  by  sin,  and  by  that  innate 
perversity  which  is  the  sad  consequence  of  original 
sin.  The  one  sole  purpose  of  oiir  lives,  therefore, 
ought  to  be  to  return  to  God;  font  how?  We  could 
never  do  so  by  any  efforts  of  our  own.  Hence,  God 
has  sent  His  Son  into  the  world  to  lead  us  back  to 
Himself. 

To  accomplish  that  task,  the  Son  of  God  has 
preached  a  gospel  of  reconciliation,  which  must  needs 
run  counter  to  all  our  notions,  inclinations,  and  pro- 
pensities, blinded,  corrupted  and  perverted  as  they 
are  by  sin.  This,  I  say,  we  ought  to  have  antici- 
pated. And  yet,  sad  to  say,  the  greater  part  of  man- 
kind, finding  the  gospel  of  Jesus  Christ  opposed  to 
their  most  cherished  sentiments  and  inclinations, 
choose  to  be  shocked  or  scandalized  at  those  gospel 
precepts;  and  prefer  their  own  blind,  perverse  arid 
corrupt  notions.  So  rare  is  it  to  find  any  one  who  is 
really  guided  by  the  maxims  of  the  gospel,  that  our 
Lord  pronounces  him  blessed  who  is  not  scandalized 
hi  Him.  While  St.  Paul,  including  all  mankind 
under  the  general  designations  of  Jews  and  Gentiles, 
brings  them  all  under  one  sweeping  condemnation; 
asserting  that  the  Cross  of  Christ  is  to  those  a  scandal, 
and  to  these  a  folly.  In  order  that  we  may  convince 
ourselves  that  the  apostle  is  justified  in  passing  this 
condemnation,  let  us  consider  what  he  means  when 


380  SERMONS  FOR  THE  YEAR 

he  says:  "We  preach  Christ  crucified."  He  means 
that  the  great  model  and  example  which  we  ought 
to  imitate,  the  perfection  to  which  we  ought  to  aspire, 
is  exhibited  to  us  by  Jesus  Christ,  hanging  on  the 
Cross ;  pierced  by  nails ;  wounded  from  Head  to  Foot ; 
stripped  of  all  things;  abandoned  by  His  friends; 
overwhelmed  with  calumnies  and  reproaches ;  steeped 
in  every  imaginable  grief  of  mind,  and  pain  of  body. 
This,  then,  is  the  gospel  of  Jesus  Christ.  This  is  the 
example  we  have  to  imitate.  And  this  is  why  that 
gospel  is  a  scandal  to  the  world,  which  prefers  to  fol- 
low its  vices  and  vanities,  rather  than  the  lesson  of 
self-denial  and  contempt  of  all  earthly  things  set  by 
Jesus  Christ  on  the  Cross. 

This  gospel,  of  which  our  Lord  has  exhibited  a 
practical  example  on  the  cross,  has  been  formulated 
by  Him  in  the  precepts  which  He  has  given  us  in  the 
Sermon  on  the  Mount.  Let  us,  then,  study  these 
familiar  precepts;  for,  familiar  as  they  may  be  to 
your  ears,  truths  like  these,  which  lie  at  the  root  of 
all  spiritual  life,  cannot  be  too  often  repeated.  Our 
blessed  Lord,  then,  declares  that  true  happiness  and 
blessedness  consist  in  poverty  of  spirit,  in  contempt 
of  riches  and  all  worldly  goods  and  honours,  in  meek- 
ness and  forgiveness  of  injuries,  in  a  spirit  of  sorrow 
and  compunction  of  heart,  in  a  hunger  and  thirst 
after  the  gifts  of  God's  grace,  in  compassion  and 
tenderness  for  all  that  are  in  affliction,  in  purity  of 
heart  and  mind  and  intention,  in  conciliation  and 
self  sacrifice,  in  patient  endurance  of  persecution, 
whether  it  shows  itself  in  injuries  done  to  person, 


QUINQUAGESIMA  381 

estate  or  reputation.  (Matt.  V;  11.)  All  this,  ac- 
cording to  the  gospel  of  Jesus  Christ,  makes  up  the 
happiness  of  a  true  Christian;  and  if  we  do  not  rejoice 
in  all  this,  we  are  not  true  followers  of  Christ.  I 
need  not  point  out  that  the  gospel  of  the  world  is 
diametrically  opposed  to  this.  To  the  eye  of  the 
worldling  all  this  is  arrant  folly.  He  places  his 
happiness  in  the  acquisition  of  wealth,  of  distinction, 
of  reputation,  of  position  in  the  world.  To  him 
poverty  is  an  object  of  contemptuous  pity,  at  the 
best ;  he  resents  injuries  and  insults ;  his  highest  good 
is  to  avoid  suffering;  he  seeks  to  gratify  his  appetites, 
and  to  keep  at  arm's  length  whatever  savours  of  re- 
ligion and  the  spiritual  life.  If  he  does  conform  to  the 
external  observance  of  the  laws  of  morality  and  the 
rites  of  religion,  it  is  only  to  keep  up  a  certain  worldly 
standard  of  respectability;  so  that  such  men  are, 
as  our  Lord  says:  "Like  to  whited  sepulchres,  which 
outwardly  appear  to  men  beautiful,  but  within,  are 
full  of  dead  men's  bones  and  of  all  filthiness."  (Matt. 
XXIII ;  27.)  Such  is  the  contrast  which  the  votaries 
of  Christ  and  of  the  world  present.  It  remains  for 
us  to  choose  on  which  side  we  shall  range  ourselves ; 
whether  under  the  standard  of  the  cross  of  Christ, 
or  with  the  world.  For  the  two  are  at  open  warfare, 
and  their  enmity  is  irreconcilable.  We  must  choose 
between  the  one  or  the  other.  For,  "he  that  is  not 
with  me  is  against  Me;  and  he  that  gathereth  not 
with  Me.  scattereth."  (Luke  XI;  23.) 

And  yet,  why  do  I  says  choose?    You  have  already 
chosen.     In  your  baptism,  you  embraced  the  cross 


382  SERMONS  FOR  THE  YEAR 

as  your  portion;  and  you  renounced  the  world  with 
all  its  deceitful  pomps  and  vanities.  It  only  remains 
for  you  now  to  be  faithful  to  that  choice,  to  repent 
of  your  past  defection,  to  purpose  amendment  for 
the  future.  But,  then,  you  must  weigh  well  what  it 
means  to  choose  the  Cross  for  your  standard;  you 
must  consider  well  the  weighty  obligations  which 
you  have,  in  consequence,  incurred.  "They  that  are 
Christ's,"  says  the  apostle,  "have  crucified  their  flesh 
with  the  vices  and  concupiscences."  (Gal.  V;  24.) 
Again,  "if  we  live  in  the  spirit,  let  us  also  walk  in  the 
spirit."  (25)  Our  duties,  then,  are  twofold — to 
crucify  the  flesh,  and  to  walk  in  the  spirit.  We  must, 
with  St.  Paul,  mortify  the  body,  and  bring  it  into 
subjection,  by  renouncing  whatever  is  opposed  to  the 
law  of  God,  and  whatever  our  depraved  nature  covets 
against  that  law.  And  since  the  body  will  certainly 
assert  a  mastery  over  us,  unless  we  master  it,  there- 
fore, it  is  not  enough  merely  to  refrain  from  what  is 
unlawful;  but  we  must  carry  the  war  into  the  en- 
emy's country,  and  completely  subjugate  the  flesh, 
by  thwarting  its  unbridled  inclinations  and  desires, 
by  keeping  a  vigilant  watch  and  control  over  its  every 
movement ;  so  that  we  may  be  able  to  say  with  the 
Psalmist:  "My  soul  is  always  in  my  hands;  and  I 
have  not  forgotten  Thy  law."  (Ps.  CXVIII;  109.) 
He  has  his  soul  always  in  his  hands,  who,  having 
curbed  the  desires  of  the  flesh,  is  not  hurried  away 
by  passion;  but,  in  all  his  works,  acts  from  a  super- 
natural motive,  and  with  purity  of  intention.  Where- 
as, the  sensual  man,  says  the  apostle,  "perceiveth  not 


QUINQUAGESIMA  383 

these  things  that  are  of  the  Spirit  of  God;  for  it  is 
foolishness  to  him;  and  he  cannot  understand."  (I 
Cor.  II;  14.) 

But  it  is  not  enough  to  mortify  the  body,  unless 
we  also  live  and  walk  in  the  spirit.  Mortification 
means  putting  to  death.  Now,  God  will  not  be  satis- 
fied with  dead  victims,  with  the  mere  mortification 
of  the  flesh,  unless  we  likewise  make  Him  the  oblation 
of  the  living  spirit,  of  the  soul  that  lives  with  the 
Supernatural  life  of  grace.  Hence,  the  apostle  ex- 
horts us  to  "present  our  bodies  a  living  sacrifice, 
holy,  pleasing  unto  God,  our  reasonable  service." 
(Rom.  XII;  1.)  Now,  this  life  of  grace,  God  alone 
can  give  us,  and  from  Him  we  must  ask  it.  He  has 
Himself  ordained  the  means  whereby  we  are  to  ob- 
tain it.  He  has  opened  to  us  fountains  of  grace,  in 
the  holy  sacraments,  and  in  the  sacrifice  of  the  Mass, 
which  is  the  perpetual  commemoration  of  that  sacri- 
fice on  Calvary  which  purchased  that  grace  for  us. 
If,  therefore,  we  would  live  in  the  spirit,  we  must 
come  to  the  fountains  of  life;  we  must  hunger  and 
thirst  after  that  celestial  manna,  which  is  the  nour- 
ishment of  our  spiritual  life,  in  the  wilderness  of  this 
world.  Thus,  when  we  have  united  ourselves  to  our 
divine  I/ord,  through  the  sacrament  of  His  Love,  we 
shall  begin  to  live  with  His  Life;  we  shall  realize  the 
truths  of  His  holy  gospel.  His  cross  will  not  longer 
be  a  scandal  to  us,  nor  His  teaching  foolishness. 
On  the  contrary,  like  the  apostle,  we  shall  not  "esteem 
ourselves  to  know  anything,  save  Jesus  Christ,  and 
Him  crucified."  (I  Cor.  II ;  2.) 


384  SERMONS  FOR  THE  YEAR 

And,  if  we  live  in  the  spirit,  we  shall  also  walk  in 
the  spirit.  All  our  actions,  our  thoughts,  our  most 
secret  impulses,  will  be  prompted  by  a  supernatural 
principle,  and  directed  to  a  supernatural  end.  We 
shall  take  up  the  Cross  of  Christ  on  our  shoulders; 
and  we  shall  find  that  yoke  sweet,  and  that  burden 
light:  (Matt.  XI;  30)  because  we  shall  carry  it,  not 
by  our  own  strength,  but  by  the  strength  of  Him, 
Who,  for  our  sakes,  supported  it  first.  And  if  we 
thus  "bear  about  in  our  body  the  mortification  of 
Jesus,  the  life  also  of  Jesus  will  be  made  manifest  in 
our  bodies."  (II  Cor.  IV;  10.)  Knowing  as  we  do 
that  "He,  Who  raised  up  Jesus  will  raise  up  us  also 
with  Jesus;"  and  that  "that  which  is  momentary 
and  light  of  our  present  tribulation,  worketh  for  us 
above  measure  exceedingly,  an  eternal  weight  of 
glory."  (17)  lyet  us,  then,  take  courage;  though 
at  present  we  see  as  through  a  glass,  in  a  dark  man- 
ner. For,  we  walk  by  faith,  which  is,  necessarily,  of 
the  unseen.  Yet,  if  we  persevere,  we  shall  see  Him 
Face  to  Face:  (1  Cor.  XIII;  12.)  We  shall  know 
Him,  even  as  we  are  known.  And  in  Thy  Light  we 
shall  see  light.  (Ps.  XXXV;  10.) 


385 
QUINQUAGESIMA 

(Another  Sermon.) 

"//  /  speak  with  the  tongues  of  men  and  of  angels, 
and  have  not  charity,  I  am  become  as  sounding  brass, 
or  a  tinkling  cymbal."  (I  Cor.  XIII;  1.) 

In  this  Sunday's  lesson,  my  dear  brethren,  the 
apostle  gives  us  a  most  beautiful  instruction  on  the 
great  virtue  of  charity,  the  queen  of  virtues.  This 
is  a  subject  we  should  often  meditate  upon,  and  ex- 
amine our  consciences  upon,  for  charity  is  pre-emi- 
nently the  gift  of  God,  which  makes  us  what  we  are 
in  the  sight  of  God,  if  we  are  anything  at  all;  without 
which,  we  are  absolutely  nothing.  It  was  of  charity 
that  our  I/ord  spoke  to  the  Samaritan  woman, 
when  He  said  to  her:  "if  thou  didst  but  know  the  gift 
of  God."  (Joh.  IV;  10.)  This  gift  of  God,  He  after- 
wards explains,  is  a  fountain  of  living  water  which 
He  Himself  infuses  into  the  soul,  springing  up  unto 
everlasting  life.  It  is,  indeed,  the  very  participation 
of  the  divine  Nature;  for  it  is  poured  forth  in  our 
hearts  by  the  Holy  Ghost,  Who  is  given  to  us.  Hence, 
it  cannot  exist  in  the  soul  along  with  sin:  I  mean, 
mortal  sin:  that  sin  which  separates  us  from  God; 
that  sin  which  deliberately  chooses  some  other  thing 
in  preference  to  God,  as  the  object  of  its  complacency. 
The  Holy  Ghost,  the  Spirit  of  Charity,  will  not,  can^ 
not,  dwell  in  a  soul,  that  is  subject  to  sin.  When, 
therefore,  we  admit  mortal  sin  into  our  soul,  w« 
necessarily  drive  out  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  forfeit  this 
divine  gift.  So,  too,  the  conversion  of  a  sinner  from 


386  SERMONS  FOR  THE  YEAR 

the  state  of  sin  to  the  state  of  charity,  consists  in  his 
turning  away  completely  from  that  which  was  the 
object  of  his  perverse  attachment,  to  cleave  to  God 
as  his  supreme  Good. 

But,  my  brethren,  it  is  not  so  much  the  intrinsic 
nature  and  excellence  of  charity  which  form  the  sub- 
ject of  the  apostle's  discourse,  but  rather  its  admir- 
able qualities  and  effects,  as  they  manifest  them- 
selves in  our  life  and  conversation ;  and  it  is  to  these, 
accordingly,  that  I  wish  to  draw  your  attention,  by 
dwelling  on  a  few  of  the  qualities  of  divine  charity, 
as  they  are  delineated  by  St.  Paul.  It  is  the  more 
important  that  we  should  do  so,  in  order  that  we 
may  satisfy  ourselves,  with  more  or  less  confidence, 
that  we,  indeed,  possess  this  divine  gift,  which,  if  it 
exists  in  us,  cannot  fail  to  manifest  itself  in  the  way 
indicated. 

The  apostle  begins,  then,  by  distinguishing  charity 
from  all  the  other  gifts  and  endowments  which  God 
is  wont  to  bestow  on  His  creatures,  whether  for  their 
ownsanctification,orfor  the  edification  of  His  Church. 
These  gifts  and  endowments  are  of  various  kinds ;  all 
excellent  in  themselves,  as  coming  down  from  the 
Father  of  Light,  from  Whom  is  every  perfect  gift. 
(James  I;  17.)  In  the  apostolic  age,  they  included 
many  gifts,  which  are  no  longer  ordinarily  bestowed; 
such,  for  example,  as  the  gift  of  tongues,  of  pro- 
phecy, of  healing.  But,  besides  these  extraordinary 
gifts,  the  apostle  speaks  of  the  gift  of  faith,  which  is, 
and  always  must  be,  an  ordinary  gift — in  fact,  indis- 
pensably necessary  for  the  salvation  of  every  human 


QUINQUAGKSIMA  387 

being.  Well,  then,  with  regard  to  all  these  gifts  and 
graces,  ordinary  and  extraordinary,  the  apostle  de- 
clares that  they  are  distinct  from  charity;  that  they 
may  exist  in  the  soul  apart  from  charity;  that  their 
presence  hi  the  soul  is  not  necessarily  a  proof  of  the 
existence  of  charity  therein;  and  what  is  of  the  most 
momentous  consequence,  he  affirms  that  the  posses- 
sion by  the  soul  of  any  or  of  all  these  graces,  apart 
from  charity,  will  avail  the  soul  absolutely  nothing 
towards  its  salvation.  "And  if  I  have  prophecy,  and 
know  all  mysteries,  and  all  knowledge,  and  if  I  have 
all  faith,  so  as  to  remove  mountains,  and  have  not 
charity,  I  am  nothing." 

Moreover,  the  apostle  warns  us  against  a  very  com- 
mon delusion,  by  which  we  mistake  human  benevo- 
lence for  divine  charity.  It  was  said  just  now  that 
charity  is  a  gift  of  God.  In  fact,  it  is  pre-eminently 
the  gift  of  God.  Hence,  no  merely  natural  disposi- 
tion or  affection,  whether  inherited  or  acquired,  can 
ever  be  confounded  with  divine  charity.  Now, 
some  are  naturally  kindhearted,  sympathetic,  gener- 
ous, self-sacrificing,  and  what  is  commonly  called 
charitable;  or,  if  they  have  not  this  disposition  natur- 
ally, they  may  acquire  it  by  their  own  assiduous 
efforts .  But ,  my  brethren ,  all  these  qualities  or  habits 
may  exist  in  a  soul  which  is  destitute  of  the  grace 
of  God.  And  in  that  case,  being  merely  natural  virtues, 
they  can  never  produce  other  than  natural  fruits. 
They  can  never  earn  the  wages  of  eternal  life.  They 
will  profit  nothing  towards  salvation.  Not  only 
this:  the  act  of  martyrdom,  the  laying  down  one's 


388  SERMONS  FOR  THE  YEAR 

life  for  the  faith,  is  deemed  to  be  an  act  of  heroic 
charity.  But  if  we  suppose  the  case  of  one  who 
should  so  lay  down  his  life  for  the  faith,  not  out  of 
charity,  but  for  some  natural  motive,  it  would  profit 
him  nothing  for  eternal  life.  Such  is  the  teaching  of 
the  apostle :  "And  if  I  should  distribute  all  my  goods 
to  feed  the  poor,  and  if  I  should  deliver  my  body  to 
be  burned,  and  have  not  charity,  it  profiteth  me 
nothing." 

Having  now  arrived  at  some  notion  of  the  im- 
portance of  this  virtue,  we  may  proceed  with  the 
apostle  to  examine  some  of  its  qualities;  from  which 
we  may  be  able  to  judge  whether  we  possess  this 
gift,  by  ascertaining  how  far  these  qualities  manifest 
themselves  in  our  own  conduct.  "Charity,  then,  is 
patient,  is  kind;  charity  envieth  not;  dealeth  not  per- 
versely ;  is  not  puffed  up. "  Time  will  permit  me  only 
to  dwell  on  the  first  two  of  these  five  qualities. 

Firstly,  then,  charity  is  patient.  Patience  means 
long  suffering,  enduring  to  the  end,  with  invincible 
fortitude;  it  is  the  victory  of  meekness.  Hence,  it 
does  not  mean  apathy  or  insensibility.  The  patient 
are  keenly  sensitive  to  the  wrongs  they  suffer.  And 
the  more  they  feel  them,  the  more  triumphantly  does 
divine  charity  assert  its  empire  over  all  the  faculties 
of  their  soul,  thereby  giving  them  the  victory  over 
themselves,  and  over  their  persecutors.  Charity, 
then,  is  patient,  because  it  is  of  God.  Who  is  so  pa- 
tient as  God?  Think  of  the  divine  patience, every 
moment  outraged  by  innumerable  crimes;  and  yet 
God  causes  His  sun  to  rise  upon  the  just  and  the 


QUINQUAGESIMA  389 

unjust.  (Matt.  V;  45.)  He  opens  His  Hand  and 
fills  with  blessing  every  living  creature,  even  those 
that  blaspheme  against  Him.  (Ps.  CXLIV;  16.) 
When  we  think  of  this,  we  are  filled  with  reverential 
awe  of  the  infinite  patience  of  God ;  and  we  bless  Him 
because,  in  bestowing  His  Charity  upon  us,  He  has 
also  endowed  us  with  a  share  of  His  Own  Patience, 
in  the  strength  of  which  we  joyfully  endure  to  the  end. 

'Charity  is  kind.'  The  apostle  must  needs  remind 
us  of  this,  because  there  is  a  charity  which  is  hard 
and  stern  and  severe.  Such  a  charity  is  not  of  God. 
True  charity  is  like  that  of  God  Himself,  of  which  the 
apostle  says  that  the  kindness  of  God  our  Saviour 
hath  appeared  to  all  men.  (Tit.  Ill;  4.)  Kindness 
is  to  charity  what  the  delicious  fragrance  is  to  the 
flower.  It  gives  it  a  charm  and  attractiveness  which 
make  it  lovable  to  the  heart,  soothing  to  the  soul. 
The  soul  that  is  possessed  of  true  charity  must  needs 
overflow  with  the  sweet  unction  of  that  Holy  Spirit 
Who  is  the  source  of  charity. 

These,  then,  are  the  two  positive  qualities  of  char- 
ity; patience  and  kindness.  As  the  perfection  of  a 
creature  consists  in  strength  of  constitution  and  grace- 
fulness of  form,  so  is  it  with  charity.  Charity  is  per- 
fect, because  it  is  patient  and  kind;  strong  in  its 
patience,  graceful  in  its  kindness. 

We  will  now  conclude  with  a  few  observations  on 
the  last  words  of  the  lesson:  'Now,  there  remain 
faith,  hope  and  charity,  these  three;  but  the  greatest 
of  these  is  charity."  These  are  the  three  great  vir- 
tues which  unite  us  to  God.  They  are  the  birth- 


390  SERMONS  FOR  THE  YEAR 

right  of  every  Christian,  infused  into  our  souls  in  holy 
baptism.  They  are  the  pledge  and  guarantee  of 
eternal  life.  How  much,  then,  ought  we  to  prize 
them,  and  how  carefully  ought  we  to  guard  them, 
lest  through  the  stratagems  of  the  evil  one  we  be 
robbed  of  our  inheritance;  especially  of  that  which, 
as  it  is  the  greatest  of  all,  so  is  it  the  most  precarious 
of  all,  the  easiest  to  lose;  for  it  is  lost,  as  I  told  you  in 
the  beginning,  by  any  and  every  mortal  sin.  Resolve 
then,  my  brethren,  to  guard  this  precious  treasure 
with  the  utmost  jealousy,  to  keep  your  hearts  un- 
sullied by  any  wilful  sin;  that  when  faith  and  hope 
are  swallowed  up  in  the  beatific  vision,  you  may  be 
united  forever  in  the  bonds  of  Charity  to  Him  Who 
is  your  sole  and  Supreme  Good. 


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